Open to Compassion for Self

When you experience compassion, you know it.
You don't think it as much as you feel it.
It can be so strong it is palpable.
With some individuals, you can sense it even through an email, a note, a card.
Sometimes it is the voice that communicates the compassion.
Sometimes it is the hand, the touch of compassion that you experience.
Sometimes it is the eyes...eyes of a knowing connection that speak the message of compassion.
And then again, sometimes it is an action.
All of these responses come from love.
Love that is so pure, that it wants nothing in return.
It is a gift from the giver to the heart of the other.
It carries an intention of healing and support.
It can bring the energy of recovery, of renewal, of new hope.
It can assure.
It can inspire.
It can release and create freedom.
It can allow greater space to 'be'.
It has the capacity to greatly empower and embolden.
It has the power to transform and move mountains.
It can re-create the superhero in another.

But one of the greatest acts of compassion is the compassion towards self.
Why is that so hard?
Why is that so rarely offered?
Certainly it is not because it is undeserved.
When one reviews one's life, a little compassion might have made the difference between a great struggle and an easy recovery.
Compassion creates a sacred space and sanctuary in which to self heal.
It carries the message that all is well.
Compassion reminds us of our own wholeness.
Compassion for self is part of caring for self.
It cannot be freely given unless it given to self first.

Receive the gift that awaits the hungry,
thirsty soul in need of just a little sweet compassion.

Wisdom Circle - The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

This past Friday evening, we had our Wisdom Circle as has been our custom.
The group came together and 'checked in', sharing events and occurrences from the previous week.
Then we were asked by the leader to share something that speaks about love...
The stories shared ranged from descriptions of the unconditional love of animals to the unspoken touch of a child to a CPS worker who was caring for him.
Sharing from the heart carries with it an energy of love that has its core within the
center of our being.
Since what we are and who we are is love, when we speak together of love, this love moves out from our hearts and fills the space.
Friday evening the 'love' was palpable.
We all felt a greater love than that which resides in each of us individually.
We felt the love that is created when great space is given to it.
We felt the love that is created when love is given the 'front and center' position.
We felt the love that is created when love is held in high regard.
We felt the love that is created when love is honored.

Stories of the magical connection that love creates ignite the fire within each of us to remember its power.
These happenings remind us why we are here.
It isn't to wage wars, to build buildings, to negotiate contracts...
It isn't to amass wealth or possessions.
It really is simple.
We are here to be love in action.
We are here to reconnect with each other and our true selves in love.
We are here to give love more space.
We are here to rediscover the transformative power of love.

Wisdom Circle - Rising Above

Another amazing 'gift' of a Wisdom Circle, is its ability to help the group 'rise above' the challenges of life in the 'fast lane' that we live in and experience the Sabbath or 'rest' of quiet contemplation and peace.
As our Circle begins each week, we release the tensions and frustrations of day to day life and allow ourselves to transition into a whole different space.
It is so good for the soul to have this space of calm...a space to step away and reflect and wonder and just BREATHE...

So often the pace of life takes over...we find ourselves running, flying, soaring from one appointment to another, hardly appreciating the interactions we have.
We move so quickly, the true miracle of the moment escapes us.
The Wisdom Circle reminds us of the importance of shifting our activity into in-activity.
The Circle provides a container of peace amidst the storm.

Over the last several weeks, our group has shared some very difficult life situations that they have been going through.
Some are in the process of standing alongside loved-ones that are having life-threatening surgery.
Others are making long trips to the bedsides of those that are in hospice and in the process of transition through death.
Others are making huge shifts in their work lives and are embarking on new careers.
Whatever the current life distraction, the Wisdom Circle offers repose.
It is a gift of solitude for the weary traveler and can serve to revitalize, renew, remind and recreate within us a sanctuary of serenity.
This interlude helps to rekindle our passion for why we are here and our purpose for being.

Wisdom Circle - Getting a Different Perspective

Because our Wisdom Circle has been meeting together for such a long time, we have created a 'sense of family' within the group.
This has allowed the opportunity for deep sharing and openness that wasn't there when we first began.
This openness allows for great truth-telling among the members and tremendous sharing of wisdom.
The trust level is so deep, there is a willingness to open to receiving feedback about areas of our lives that may not be working as well as we would like.
It gives each individual the opportunity to get a different perspective and a different view of where we are currently standing.
This different view can provide a new look at an old challenge.
It can give us a snapshot of what is working and what is not from a new vantage point.
It can provide us with what we 'look' like from the point of view of another.

This new 'view' can truly help give us a larger sense of what is going on... what is trying to happen.
This other perspective, if shared in love, can be healing and affirming.
This other perspective, if received in love, can be healing and affirming.

Because we live in a 'relationship-oriented' world, feedback from others can give us valuable information.
It must be balanced though, with what we know to be true within ourselves.
Trusting our inner Spirit to teach us to discern, truth vs. fiction is a lifelong process.
As we grow in Spirit and in truth, we come to 'see' and 'feel' and 'sense' in ways that reflect a deeper 'knowing' of the way things really are.
It becomes easier to see, feel and sense in a deeper way, allowing the peripheral 'stuff' to float away and out of the equation.

How blessed we are to be guided by our Creator to come to know ourselves and others as Divine creations continually opening to larger 'versions' of who we are.
Thank goodness the Creator has a view that includes those aspects of ourselves that are still hidden from us.
Thank goodness the Creator covers our imperfections with Love, Forgiveness, and a huge helping of Grace.
What a wonderful world is ours...

Wisdom Circle - Microcosm for the World

Within the Circle are gifts for healing the world, for learning to live in harmony with one another and with the Earth.
By taking the experiences from the Circle into the world, we give voice to those values.
We give space to the wisdom of each individual and to the beauty of each unique experience in life.
By learning to trust within the Circle, we can ‘bridge’ that trust and integrity into all our relationships.
We can heal the world.

The Wisdom Circle is a perfect place to experience the values that we wish to bring into the world.
By creating a space rich with these values, principles, and the way we wish the world to be, we develop a microcosm of what we can then bring to the rest of our existence.
When we take the time to create an environment within the Circle that is full of love, light, wonder, wisdom, joy, the experience is so rich that we can't help but be inspired to bring that same experience to others and to the world.
T

Wisdom Circle - Go For It!

Consciously taking a step that departs from the 'norm' can feel like a leap of great magnitude.
It can feel like a total departure from your usual way of being in the world.
Often, it creates anticipation that may include fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of suffering, fear of loss and grief.
For a moment, that fear can be consuming.
It can well up inside oneself and get really large.
And then the moment comes when you ask yourself, 'do I really want to continue to live in this fear, or do I really want to shift into BLISS?'
As you change your 'mind', you change your reaction, and you change the reaction that bounces back to you.
You shift from deeper and deeper fear, into 'wow, this is awesome and it feels great'.

The function of a Wisdom Circle is to help each member release and surrender the 'I'm so scared' and help them move freely into the 'wow, this is wonderful'.
Each time the 'wow' is experienced, it becomes easier to get there the next time.
Each time fear is released, it becomes easier to get there the next time as well.
Soon, the cliff doesn't seem so steep and high.
Soon, the drop off doesn't even feel like a threat.
Soon, other options for a happy landing seem extremely likely and probable.
Soon, Bliss seems like a daily occurrence.
Soon, the entire group is sharing experiences of successes and joys.
Soon, the Wisdom Circle is a place to bring your ideas and your heart's desires so the group can energize them and 'hold space' for their fulfillment.
Soon, visioning a better existence is commonplace and fear has no place.
Soon, the precipice evokes the energy of opportunity and mystery and life's potentialities.
Soon, everyone is leaping...
What a world that will be...
WOW...

Wisdom Circle - Supporting Each Other on Our Paths

Every person's path is so very different.
No two are the same.
One of the functions of a Wisdom Circle is to support the growth and soul development of each member.
Through the experience of being in a spiritually focused group, often a person's chosen pathway becomes more clear.
The individual may have an opportunity to 'dance' with more of who she or he is.
There is an opportunity to explore aspects of oneself that tend to get pushed into the closet in normal everyday life.
The Circle 'holds space' for our becoming...that is, our becoming more of who we already are.
The Circle serves as a container to support the opening of aspects of ourselves that lie deeper below the surface.
Sometimes it is fear that has buried these 'gems' of who we are.
Sometimes it is our 'busyness'.
Sometimes it is our confusion.
But whatever it is, the Circle is a natural place for its fuller expression.

The way a Circle can support each person's path to unfold further is by creating a space and a time for each person to present those items that are held dear to their hearts.
When an individual chooses to 'go public' with that which is on their heart, a wonderful energy is created which further supports their heart's desire in manifesting.
The Universe says, YES!!!, and synchronicities are created that support the individual's soul development.
There is an incredible response by Spirit to the creative impulse within the individual and magic happens.
Opportunities are created, jobs are identified, resources are manifested...

The Creator loves us to respond to co-create...
The Creator is ready to send an abundance of angels to support us as we move forward and take a leap of faith.
The Creator always 'makes up' for whatever shortcomings we have...there is no 'short - fall'.
We are caught up in the wings of angels as we move forward in confidence that the support of heaven is ours.

As each of us take the next step on our path and choose to move closer to who we truly are as soul, the world changes.
The world heals as we heal...slowly or quickly, depending on how we choose to respond.
Is it worth taking the risk and dancing with a bit more mystery in order to help heal the world and ourselves?
Now is a great time to embrace your own path...live the best life you can dream...