Gaze into the looking glass.
Upon the surface, first the outward manifests.
But, I am drawn to looking deeper.
Deeper in, the mysteries are revealed.
From the shallows. Into the depths.
You’ve now reached the Hallows.
What was hidden, is there revealed.
by Beth Haley
Every day we encounter situations that we have the opportunity to respond to in a positive and calm way. On the other hand, we can live reactively, by going into anxiety, fear or stress. However, our happiness and health depend a great deal upon how well we can manage our emotional responses, reactions, mental perceptions and beliefs.
We all know that continuous emotional stress is hard on our bodies. So really, being able to regulate our emotions and develop self-coping/soothing practices may very well save our life. Developing the ability to walk through our everyday circumstances in a calm and clear-headed manner, can get us farther than fighting battles we don’t need to fight, or by running when we need to calmly stand.
Imagine that you are connected to the most sophisticated and sensitive machine (like a polygraph) ever made. It measures your feelings of stress, anxiety, or fear. If you feel even the slightest bit of these emotions while you are hooked up to this machine, it will deliver a shock which will end your life.
The thing is, if you make it through the test, you win a million dollars. So with this in mind (death or a substantial prize), imagine that you are hooked up to this machine and your test is about to begin. Your directions are as follows: Imagine a situation in your life that brought/brings you anxiety, fear, or stress. If you can stay completely calm and relaxed, you will win the prize. If not… ZING!
The next time you’re about to jump on the “Anxiety, Fear, and Stress Express,” remind yourself of the choice between the zing or the prize. It’s not just an interesting exercise. It is the training and retraining of our minds.
We don’t actually need the “fight or flight” response all that often. Maybe if you’re being chased by a bear? Were you chased by a bear today? Some of us are so used to living with stressed-out emotions, we don’t even know how to let ourselves be calm, at ease, grounded, centered and at peace. Let alone shut it all down to even rest.
The choice is ours. Will we have an internal forecast of calm today ? Or, “fight or flight?”
My choice today is to win the cash prize of self-possessed calm, and avoid the zing of the machine.
What does stress solve? Zing! What does anxiety fix? Zing! What does fear prevent? Zing!
Breathe! The chances are really, really good that you are not currently being chased by a bear – and that whatever you are facing, will be easiest to handle with a calm and clear mind.
Sources: The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety -Forsyth and Eifert
Photos by Faye Cornish and Harli Martin
“A friend is what the heart needs all the time.”
-Henry Van Dyke
The route you take depends a good deal upon where you want to go. -Lewis Carroll
Day after day, the father drove to work along the same dreary highway to the same dreary job. Sometimes his daughter went to his office with him. On one of these occasions she noticed a winding road running parallel to the highway. “Oh, Daddy, let’s take that road today,” she suggested. After some grumbling and mumbling, the father agreed and turned off to take the side road.
To their delight, the road was lined with full trees and a rainbow of flowers. They came upon a quaint little village in which there was an office with a sign in the window that said, “Clerk Wanted. Inquire Within.” The job seemed perfect and the man accepted it with excitement he hadn’t felt in many years.
Sometimes we have to risk taking a different path in order to arrive at a different place. How else can we change things in our lives that need to be changed? And how easy to do it, once we’re willing to risk something out of the ordinary.
What can I do that’s out of the ordinary today?
From: Today’s Gift – Daily Meditations for Families
From the North American Ute Indians
Earth teach me stillness
As the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
As old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me caring
As parents who secure their young.
Earth teach me courage
As the tree which stands all alone.
Earth teach me limitation
As the aunt which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
As the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
As the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
As the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
As melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember
As dry fields weep with rain.
–North American Ute Indians
by Beth Haley
Masu boxes were originally square wooden boxes used for measuring out rice during a time when powerful families, military warlords and samurai ruled Japan, called the feudal period of Japanese history.
Today, I made a masu box, with a lid, out of origami paper.
It’s a great size for small treasures or small desk items like paperclips, and for an uncovered box, if you double the paper with both plain sides facing inward, the bottom of your box will have a nice design also.
Otherwise the inside looks like this:
Which is fine if it’s going to be covered by a lid anyways!
Directions for making an origami masu box: Origami.me
I visited with a friend recently who lives on 12 acres of wooded paradise. We went out to explore the woods, and stepping through this portal was like being transported into another realm.
The city behind me, the woods before me. Just for now, I leave it all behind. My busy mind is stilled.
Mindful.
What had been, becomes what is right now; in this moment, this beauty to behold. Scattered thoughts stop their scurry and rush, within the sacred hush of this grove.
A breath of wind makes leaves dance
The creek chuckles as twilight approaches
The woods yawn, and the trees stretch their arms up higher
An owl signals through the dim forest light, “Who?”
Always seeing
Always knowing
My body soaks up this green elixir of refreshment
Communion
Presence
Listening
Sanctuary
I used to bring my children out under the trees and say, “Listen!” There would be no sound, and they would look around puzzled. Then, a gentle breeze would move by and they’d hear it:
“The trees are clapping their hands!”
All that is,
worships and honors,
all that is.
And here is one more of the mushrooms as I had an inquiry as to what they were in the above picture 🍄 I think this one is easier to see what they are 😊
These photos I took in the woods with my phone. I wish I could size them on the post better… but one determines the rest of them it seems. They’re either too small or too large. On a phone though I think they look ok.
Have you taken some time in nature lately? 😊
Teresa of “The Haunted Wordsmith” has given us the following prompt today.
If you would like to join the Challenge, please see the instructions below.
Welcome to the Haunted Wordsmith Daily Prompt (HWDP). To participate, simply read this post and follow where the muse takes you.
You may select any, all, or none of the prompts…it’s all up to you. Link back to this post, or leave a link in the comments so that others can find you.
Have Fun!
Prompt A (genre challenge): haiku
Prompt B (sentence starter): “Where did all these footprints come from?”
Prompt C (photo):
One technique of meditation is to watch a candle flame.
Inhale and Exhale
Breathing keeps us in “Real Time”
Watch the dancing flame
•
🦊 Thela Foxgood 2019
beckiesmentalmess.wordpress.com
https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/prompts-june-7/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/public/
by Beth Haley
The real voyage of discovery
Consists not in seeking new landscapes
But in having new eyes
-Marcel Proust
A journey through swamp land…
I do gather pine needles for tea. Make sure if you gather pine needles, that they are harvested in small amounts per/tree and that the trees are well away from traffic.
Some pines are poisonous, so find out what kind of pines are in your area first, and don’t drink pine tea while pregnant.
Pilgrimage Studio 