Building A Queendom

 This sums up the past year as it inspires me for the future.

Sayanora 2020.  Farewell injustice.  Adios inequality.  

kastilwell

There's Music...Call It That

The absolute luxury of walking in silence in the woods is a priceless treasure. 

Anyone who has experienced this knows of which I speak.  

It is one of those rare activities the carries secrets within it.

 kastilwell

Happy Birthday to a very special 9 year old today.  

Birdwoman

 I'm practicing a new way of conducting my life.  Rather than being ruled by habit and "getting it done", I'm taking a slower pace.  One where I'm listening to the under current.  

Although I receive an email from Rattle with a poem every day,  I don't always read them.  

Today, I felt compelled by the undercurrent to do so and felt rewarded.  

I recommend reading it in its entirety.  

Here is the link.

Looking Directly At What's Threatening

Man oh man, this is strong advice.  Seeing the threat is fairly straightforward.  Finding a way to 

live with it and do what is mine to do about it, requires equally strong reflection and ample courage.

kastilwell

 

Feed Yourself Fire

 

Sharing The Flame

 There seems to be an over-abundance of pain in the world today.  

Envisioning us gathering to light a fire with this pain while singing together feels comforting.  

So I'm tenderly placing my logs of grief, pain and loss onto the pyre and softly humming 

so as not to frighten the children with my less than melodious singing. 

 kastilwell

Christmas is a State of Mind

May you enjoy the real Spirit of Christmas every single day.  

Sending out warmth, peace, and goodwill from my heart to yours.  

kastilwell

Inside Silence's Fence

 

Live The Questions Now

 The questions I'm living with these days are mighty and mundane.  Is love strong enough? When will we see true justice and real liberty for all creatures?  Will we gather the forces necessary to heal our planet? What goodness are we leaving for the next generations?  These questions fall under the mighty category.  What will we fix for dinner?  Where are my keys?  Did I take my vitamins?  

These are some of the mundane.  kastilwell

Wild Dilemma

 And still, I believe we will make it, despite our fear.  kastilwell

PS.  Happy Birthday to a very dear long time friend.

Sweet Darkness

May the Winter Solstice bring you alive in the sweet darkness. kastilwell

 

Let Them Not Say

I had to post this even with the huge pit in my stomach at the truth of it.  

May we find the way to heal our planet and each other.  I believe in the power of us.  kastilwell

 

Let The World Stay The World

 This brings to mind all the work we have to do to save our precious planet.  kastilwell

Gratitude for The Uncertain

 I'm posting this as something to aspire to.  Frankly, I'm rather attached to the certain so being

grateful for the lack of it is a stretch.  Practice.  Practice.  Practice. kastilwell

Zero Plus

 Feeling mathematical today.  Love this thought.  kastilwell

A Field Beyond Harsh Judgment

 In quiet times, my habit of imposing immediate, and often harsh judgments on another's behavior surfaces and invites me to become more aware and more compassionate toward others as well as myself. It's challenging to rewire those deeply laid tracks and great practice for my brain's elasticity to do so.  Namaste' kastilwell

Those Places Where Lines Are Perceived

 Questions came to mind as I contemplated this quote.  Where are the places my lines are perceived and am I being programmed unconsciously to draw them?  Why are two things colliding interesting to watch?  Is this true?  If so, is it because I'm addicted to drama?  Is conflict so enticing because it carries with it an invitation to another way of looking at things? I find myself withdrawing from conflict.  Is the energy required to draw away as potent as the energy it takes to sit in the discomfort and forge a different outlook?   kastilwell

Wait Without Hope

 "So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing."  I find myself waiting in joyful hope regardless of what Eliot advises.  kastilwell

When All Else Fails

This seems to fit the recent shenanigans perpetrated by some in the public sphere.  If your goal includes harming fellow creatures on this earth, failing is preferable on any level. kastilwell

A Bowl Held In Both Hands

 This thought has caught my attention and continues to reverberate inside.  kastilwell

To Hear Love

 An antidote to all the noise and chaos not to mention anxiety and fear due to the ever increasing pandemic death count. May we all listen within ourselves to hear love in our silence.  kastilwell

Fail

 

Dancing

 And sometimes, rules are necessary for the good of all.  Life is complex and contradictory and confusing.  It's also glorious and miraculous and utterly astonishing.  That's what makes dancing vital to a person's well being.  Even if it's sitting and clapping your hands.  kastilwell

She Knows

 As I sit here, seemingly separated from "normal" physical connection to the outside world of a year ago, it is helpful to remember how complex reality is and how deeply connected I am to all that matters. This is true even without internet or phone service!   kastilwell

Temporary Stuff

 How lovely to consider my own thoughts as glorious and temporary.  Glory is always temporary. Every, single thing is passing through...coming or going...there is no escaping this so I might as well luxuriate in the temporary glory of the multiple, mighty things I take for granted.  kastilwell

Trees Are Amazing

I struggle with the image of trees "fighting" with other plants even though it is the way of certain things.  I keep in mind the many benefits they provide our earth and we creatures living here and feel great gratitude for their mighty existence.  kastilwell 

Infinite Possibilities

 At this point in my life, my mind and my body carry on a constant conversation which often leads to conflict.   Mind wants Body to do something.  Body does its best to comply and ends up failing to achieve desired results.  Mind insists.  Body objects...strongly.  Frustration, pain and grief are involved.  

It's a challenge to listen respectfully to both sides and reconcile the differences. 

I'm not sure flying like an angel is a realistic goal for a physical body.  kastilwell 

Wabi Sabi

If perfection is in the eye of the beholder, imperfection is also, right?

I love this concept although I confess, I don't always live it.  

I'm so programmed by others on what is "pleasing", it's often necessary

to pause and absorb what I'm experiencing whether it be the

visual beauty of a tiny vignette in the woods, or the 

wabi sabi of a rumpled, lived-in room.  I'm trained so 

well toward neat and orderly; a loved one's

 used socks, even if beautifully made, lying on the rug

does not invoke strong pleasure.  Not yet, anyway.

kastilwell

 

There Is A Whisper

This whisper stalks me consistently.  I am grateful, sort of, for it's persistence.  

It brings with it a level of unease calling for tenderness and patience.  They don't come automatically.  

My automatic is to get it done or ignore and deny.  It takes practice, deep breathing and patience

to consider those tough questions and then allow the answer not to be immediately forthcoming.  

Did she really mean what I think she said?  Is it possible I'm wrong?   

Am I trying to "win" or willing to learn?  What does real love look like in this situation?  

Grace and grounding...absolutely essential.  Time in the woods is critical.  kastilwell  

Burn Things

Sometimes things carry memories...they're  imbued with the essence, the physical energy of a time and place dear to one's heart.  However, in order to pack light, it's necessary to actually carry them by heart.  kastilwell

PS:  Happy Birthday to a treasured friend.

What Would The World Look Like?

 Can you imagine?  After being steeped in the programming from those working to convince me the only way to have value is to follow their shallow path to "beauty", "success" or some other transient bauble, the thought of making no apology for my "failings" is breathtaking, somewhat terrifying and immensely satisfying.  kastilwell

Time in the Forest

 "Time moves in circles and events are linked."  The more time I spend on this earth, the more I realize this simple and profound truth.  Something which moved me deeply years ago, faded away, seemily buried in the layers of living, returns today as a tender reminder, made vivid again, made powerful once more. kastilwell

PS: Sending love to a special friend on her birthday.  

There is No Path

 These words resonated deep within me...a part of me I've not paid much attention to and find myself becoming more familiar with as the years advance and the path becomes less certain and more inviting.  Now I'm learning how to welcome what is unexpected and unexplored;  to engage rather than label, to be curious instead of bound in certainty.   kastilwell 

And Then The Voice Grows Still

In today's world, a minus sign signals a negative Covid test which is welcome and positive.

My automatic reaction to Gluck's words is a sense of rejection and aversion to the minus sign.

It feels like the snuffing out of life.  However, connecting it with the "negative" Covid test gives it

another flavor.  It moves me out of "automatic" into a more thoughtful response.  

If a negative or minus sign can be positive in one circumstance, can't it be so in the other?  

Merging with the infinite becomes a cause for celebration.  kastilwell

Like A Fountain

Where are my gray and numb places?  My hardened places?  May I envision the contours and colors beneath the gray veil and detect the sensations they carry.  May my hard places begin to soften, melt and liquify.  May the throbbing of life around me be mirrored within my own beautiful blood and sinew.  kastilwell

A Twice Blessed Life

A Thanksgiving reflection. kastilwell 

 

Another Way to Be Thankful?

 

Simple Invitation

 What simple invitation do I hope to receive?  What invitation do I wish to send?  kastilwell

Being Powerful in the Service of Your Vision

 What small step can I take toward something powerful in the service of my vision? 

My vision today is a democracy which withstands assault and grows in ways to provide liberty and TRUE justice FOR ALL.  I will continue to hold that vision in my heart and mind and wait in joyful hope for the beginning of a new chapter in our story.  May those afflicted with Covid-19 find healing and may those working to help them find the strength and endurance to continue their brave and powerful efforts. kastilwell

Blinder Still by Padraig O' Tauma

 

America

 We continue to work for the common good.  TRUE liberty and REAL justice for ALL.  kastilwell

Full of Yourself

May we all follow the knowing deep inside ourselves and act accordingly.  kastilwell

 

Radical Self Love

 It's about trusting who you already are beneath all the superficial programming and 

turning away from those who benefit from keeping you confined.   kastilwell

Peel Away Toxic Messages

Women are beginning to wake up to this.  It's mighty work to disentangle ourselves from the programming we've been swimming in since birth.  When I think back to my teen and early adult years, I cringe at the indoctrination into the world of "beauty" and "fashion" and "thinness".  My mother spent my childhood seesawing between diet pills and tranquilizers.  It wasn't until years later, I realized how unhealthy and tragic the messages were she was responding to and unintentionally passing along to her daughters and to my daughters!  What a crock of nonsense we've been sold!  kastilwell

Wellness

 It seems to me, the world has turned many reasonable things into "trends" and "shoulds" and "money-making opportunities".  I'm weary of the commercialization of everything.  kastilwell

Natural Intelligence

 What a relief!!!  The compulsion to "improve" is so embedded, it's going to take the rest of my life to untangle the knots and trust who I am becoming.  kastilwell

Been Waiting My Whole Life

 How faithful my body has been in spite of being taken for granted for decades.  

I joke that my body is there to carry my mind around and it's true most of the time.  

It's a new experience to befriend this body with it's miraculous functions. Sacred territory.  kastilwell

Trying to Meet Expectations

 

Research

 

Science Is

And it's ok to be wrong.  It's a great way to learn how to do better.

I hope we can learn to accept failure as a stepping stone and ease up

on ourselves and others. kastilwell