Deliberate Peace, llvl

I have a billion things on my plate right now. So I need to line them up and slowly go through each one. Do this, and then the next thing.

It’s a way of honoring both the things that need to be done and myself by paying attention. Neither doing things in a slap dash fashion nor procrastinating serve me or my responsibilities.

And so, step by step by step. Turn off the distractions. Turn on the attention. Structure is not my best-fitting suit… but it is so helpful when there is lots to get through. Today’s one of those days. Tomorrow is as well. Peace demands the best of us. You (I!) have to give it time to work… So, Peace be with you, as you work through your list of steps toward Peace!

Arrival of Fall Peace, llvl

Deb’s brilliant photo is a gentle reminder that things are changing. Change is a good thing. But oh, we’re all reluctant to let go of summer and the outdoors world. But October does what she can to ease our reluctance by turning gorgeous reds and yellows and oranges. At least in our little vida local.

Our job is to keep our hands and hearts open… to release what is finished and to welcome what is coming. Life is quite extraordinary, no matter what’s happening… What does the future bring? We can only know that by responding to the cues of the present.

So, here we go. Thank you, Glorious Summer, for the extraordinary times, for the warmth and the friendship. Thank you, Autumn, for the bounty of love and life we’re now enjoying. Thank you for the balance. Thank you for the wealth of experiences which will be the basis for my Winter stories and my study beside the fires… Peace is in every season, but only if we’re willing to recognize and enjoy it!

Your Village Peace, llvl

People need community. It’s good to have people to watch over us, to fret about us, to love us. I think the most important work I do as a ritual maker is help make that community visible, identifiable, even to charge the crowd with that responsibility. As a minister, it’s my job to look for ways for that to happen. As a citizen in a couple different villages, it makes me happy to hear when people step up and so grateful, whether or not I’m the recipient of that generosity. When the village works, we’re all more joyful, or in some cases, just less sad.

Who is your village. It’s helpful to get clear about this. It’s sometimes delightfully surprising who steps up to be in your village when you need that support. Sometimes, discouraging, but it’s all information, and it all takes work… but it’s work well worth doing.

It is I think, the primary work of Peace. From then on, it’s about making the village bigger.

Stretching Peace, llvl

Spring Peace is often about looking forward. Fall’s Peace can be about holding tight and not letting go of the beauty we’ve just experienced. We’re reluctant, maybe not so much to see the heat of Summer go, but the outsideness of it, those days when you can sit comfortably in the shade and enjoy. So when those days linger, we rejoice.

But at the same time it’s great to be back to work. I don’t know about you, but the crisp mornings stir my brain. I have all sorts of projects on the boil — figuring out a little of this and a little of that; moving life forward. I’m up and awake in the morning, working on things.

At the same time, I seem to be taking the time to remember. I’m flooded with thoughts of what used to be. I’m willing to clear out the debris in my life, to let go grudges, to forgive transgressions, as I clear out the debris in the house and finally finish projects that are hanging over my head.

I want to experience every minute of these beautiful days. I want to grab every thought and record it. I want to stop worrying about what happened and start making things better. I want to balance (it’s the equinox!) the pleasure and the work. And I will, because it’s Fall!

Fall Sabbath Peace, llvl

It’s going to be another glorious day here. (anyone else worried about the lack of rain?) But since we’ve got it, let’s enjoy it. Hot days, cold nights. Glorious weather.

I went to the the local fair last night (think bigggggggggg) and heard the doo-wop show. It was really fun. I kept looking for my sister and her crowd… it was her era. And it was grrreat. Steve had said, oh, if you hear this guy, i’m like sure, i’m gonna hear that guy… well I did. So it was my husband’s era as well. And yes, i ate too much, but hey, it’s the fair!

But today after the fog burns off, I have my eye on a little walk and a little nap. Hope you have a good one. I wish you the Peace of lovely Autumn days and I wish you the time to get out in it…

Evening Peace, llvl

I had different plans for Friday evening. After all, King Street Coffee House was kicking of the season. And then there was the lure of doing absolutely nothing after a day of running hither, thither and yon. (both yon and thither were a distance, let me tell you! even if some of it was only mental!)

But Elijah called and I don’t get to see Meghan and him all that often. So, I succumbed to the lure of local. It was great. Local gallery with two great businesses run by lovely friends. And then a movie I’ve been wanting to see at our fabulous restored Art Deco movie house.

Walking home, it was still a lovely, warm Autumn evening and the gallery doors stood open in invitation. In for a quick gossip and boom, the evening was over with no real effort from me. I didn’t drive anywhere, and the popcorn at the movie theater has real butter. ok, now. That’s a Friday night. And in a couple weeks, I can get to King Street.

It can be a rich life if you’re willing to live la vida local. And if you’re willing to work on the things that stand between this life and Peace. But hey, that’s why we’re here, right?

Peeking Peace, llvl

Sliding down my stairwell steps, casting rainbows on the wall. Twice a year, the sun celebrates its vacation at the equator and throws its light around at my house. Whether he hollers, “See you later!” or “I’m on my way!” the beauty makes me grin.

We have to celebrate these brief shining moments, wake up to them and be present to their glory.

There are a lot of things that are hard, but sometimes Peace is as molten as sunshine and as sweet as a dancing rainbow. Drink at the well of Peace!

Peace Monuments, llvl

I sometimes wonder if the Universe doesn’t find little ways to amuse itself. Now maybe whoever built this house in 1860 carefully calculated how to capture the sun on the equinoxes and at no other time of the year.

Or maybe the Sun, on one of it’s endless rotations noticed this dark hallway and thought, huh, I can do this. Wonder if anyone will notice.

Did all the other inhabitants of the notice? I can ask one of them. There’s a guy in town whom I’ve been following from rental to rental… I’ve told him the next move is into his house. Small towns. everything has provenance and you can figure it out.

Or did it take this Earth-centered witch to hang the crystal and notice both the molten gold and the rainbow. When you work at home, you practice being present to all sorts of things! Whatever. It causes me to rejoice. I start checking about a week before, hope for sun on the days I’m looking on those late afternoons and wait for the magic to happen on this very dark stairwell. Ah! there it is!

Tiny little Blessings show up lots of places and give you Peace. Let’s pay attention! Let’s hear it for Peace.

Upright Peace, llvl

Who knows what metaphors are going to catch you… But the notion of being an upright person, upright citizen of my vida local, caught my heart.

I could see myself standing comfortably, balancing in an easy Tai Chi Position (casting no shadow), and being prepared for movement in whatever direction I was called to move. Pivot. Move forward. Step backward. I want my goals and plans and dreams for Peace to be written on my face, so that those who see me there, know that I will always try to step toward Peace.

I want to be stalwart and reliable for those who need a place to lean. If I am counted as present, then I can be helpful to those who need support. I want to be a building block for Peace.

An upright for Peace. Reminding myself of this two days a year may help me remember at other times what my work is…

Peace Shadows, llvl

We don’t live at the equator, so the sun casts a shadow every day. I’m so caught by the notion of standing still occupying only my place in the world.

Maybe on this day, we could consider choosing the kind of shadow we choose to cast.

I’m happy to offer shade. I admit I can giggle helplessly when my shadow does silly things like crawl across a floor only to crawl up a wall. I’m not one of those people, but I’m entranced by people who can make their fingers fly in the lamplight, telling a story of faces or animals.

But in the face of the climate change march, it was easy to think about shadow as a stain… as something we leave behind with our passing, something we do without noticing. It was interesting to consider that…

I want to cast a shadow of Peace. As much as I can, I want to be conscious of, to be present to, the trail I leave. Peace. Doing it. Being it. Casting it across the world.

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

The Priestess Is In