What does this image say to you?
It is said that the language of the soul speaks in images. I don't know who said this but I do know that it is true, from my experience. Dreams, art, music, and poems speak directly to my heart and soul in profound ways through their use of imagery that is beyond words, even beyond the words they may contain. I am deeply nourished by dreams, art, music, and poems, whether they come from my own heart or from someone else's heart. Our hearts are connected as One so it makes sense to me that whatever form of beauty originates from another's heart is bound to carry a Universal resonance. What I carry in my heart has the power to carry me. This beautiful truth is reflected in all of us.
I have come to realize that when I feel like I'm drowning in pain of all kinds, whether it be sadness, grief, depression, or anxiety, I intuitively turn to my or others' dreams, art, music and poetry to help lift my spirit and carry me to a better place within myself. The power inherent in these soulful things never fail me. In particular, there is one very special poem present in my awareness that I continually return to for nourishment, like a well I can gather fresh, clean water from, and that poem is titled, "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. The image above, where I asked what it says to you, is actually one of Kahlil's drawings. He was not just a poet, but an artist and dreamer as well. I first became aware of Kahlil Gibran and his beautiful poem in 2011 while reading the book "Change We Must: My Spiritual Journey" by Nana Veary.
Nana and her wisdom have had a meteoric impact in my life; especially, her wisdom of the spirituality of practicing "Aloha," seeing the Divine Breath of Life present in all people and her perspective on the power of forgiveness. My unforgiveness toward myself and others is one of my major sources of pain. In her book, Nana says, "There is only one Self, the eternal I Am. If you condemn someone or something, you condemn yourself, your own Being. If you forgive, you give to yourself." Then she goes on to say, "Forgiving means to set everyone and everything fully free, to release them totally within your own being, realizing that in Being you are not dependent on anyone or anything, and they are not dependent on you. ...Free yourself in consciousness. You alone bind yourself, and you alone can free yourself. This truth is expressed in Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet:
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone.
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."
Nana's wisdom and this part of Kahlil's poem have gifted me a clearer image of what forgiveness truly means and an image of a love that I strive to embody and radiate in the world. I must also mention, for reasons of synchronicity, that in their own special way, this poem and Nana's wisdom have also helped me to better understand the love present within and between the characters of Rose and Jack in the movie Titanic and the symbolic message that I feel is behind Rose throwing her Heart of the Ocean necklace into the sea at the end. Through the wisdom of Nana Veary and The Prophet, I now see that Rose freed herself in the ocean of consciousness and that the way she loved Jack helped her to keep her promise to him, to never give up despite her profound loss of him, for Rose's heart was contained in the hand of Life. This is what I like to see, anyway. I bring up these musings about Titanic, not just because I totally love that movie, but also because there is an awesome synchronicity in connection with my love for Titanic and The Prophet that makes for a very interesting story...
On the night of November 23, 2013 I was staying the night at my Grandma Dorie's house to help comfort her and keep her company since my Grandpa Ralph had temporarily moved to the Dow Rummel Village. My Grandma had already gone to bed so I was in the living room watching television and surfing the internet on my phone. For whatever reason, I felt a strong desire to repeatedly watch certain scenes from Titanic on Youtube this night. I recall mostly watching scenes of Rose "flying" at the front of the ship with Jack and the scene with Jack and Rose in the sea which is titled, "The Promise." As I was watching those scenes I, like usual, was brought to tears and felt immense power in my heart. This movie, in general, totally speaks to my soul, that's all I know. So there I was watching these Titanic scenes on Youtube and it dawned on me that the love I was seeing in these scenes is the love I see in the poem The Prophet. It was a major realization for me. Then, I realized my phone battery was about to die so I got up to plug my phone in to a wall charger located near my Grandma's library shelves. After I plugged my phone in to charge, I had planned to look through her books to see if there was a poem book I'd like to read. My Grandma Dorie shares with me a deep love for poetry so she has many poem books. Well, just as I was about to look through her books, a loud commercial popped onto the TV which was a trailer for some horror movie. I didn't want the sounds of horror to disrupt my Titanic/ Prophet love vibes so I quickly plugged my ears with my fingers and began heading toward the kitchen. Then, something so amazing occurred which I am still in awe about because it felt dream-like. There I was plugging my ears, walking away from my Grandma's library shelves, when I quickly came upon a stool with none other than the poem book The Prophet sitting atop it. Thankfully, I captured the exact vision of what I saw with my phone's camera. The image itself is a gift in my eyes!!!
I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. My jaw hung as I was still plugging my ears trying to block the sounds of the horror movie trailer in the background. Pretty funny image of myself!! It's just so cool how this all unfolded though. It's amazing that here I had been watching scenes from Titanic, while thinking about The Prophet, and then seconds later I discover that my Grandma Dorie owns this book. I had no idea she owned this poem or that this poem was long enough to be in book form. Seeing it was a super surprise of synchronicity at its finest. Gifts galore! My heart wanted to explode with joy! It's hard to put into words all that I felt. When I look at the image again all of these feelings rise up in me once more and I am filled with gratitude for what life, Spirit, and synchronicity have gifted me. There is even more beauty present in this story, but I think I have shared enough for now.
To be continued...
This is a beautiful message that hangs off the porch of a house located less than a block from where I live. It makes me smile to think about what it's truly saying as it conjures up Bob Marley singing in my mind's jukebox: "One love, one heart. Let's get together and feel alright..." I actually believe that "One Love" is a message that the force of synchronicity is trying to convey to us. Through my own experiences with synchronicity I have learned that everything in life is intimately interconnected. We are intimately connected to one another, to all life on Earth, to not only the sun and moon but the entire Universe (Uni = One), and our inner world has a mysteriously intimate connection with our outer world. We are ONE with everything. I am hardly the only person who has this perception. Interestingly, one such person who agrees with me actually created a poster titled "Synchronicity" which just so happens to be hung up on a wall in the car shop, Ron's Garage, that is located directly across the street from where the "ONE LOVE" sign hangs. I only know that this "Synchronicity" poster exists in Ron's Garage thanks to my brother, Justin, who spotted it about a year ago as he was waiting for his vehicle to be worked on. Justin text me a picture of the poster and then later gifted it to me for my 36th birthday in May 2017. So now I have this awesome poster hung up above my bed. Here is the poster which features an amazing image of dolphins that was captured by photographer Daniel McCulloch:
After searching the internet for more information about the story behind this picture/poster and the photographer, Daniel McCulloch, I discovered that there is most certainly an amazing story behind this picture of the dolphins. According to Daniel's website, www.dolphinsynergy.com , this picture was taken the first day Daniel ever saw a dolphin and he shares that the events that led up to this moment were experienced as powerfully "synchronistic and magical" which is the inspiration behind the title of the poster. Daniel provides greater and more beautiful insight to what synchronicity is about when he says, "...we all flow through life upon waves of energy that we have ourselves emanated, that all we experience is somehow reflecting back to us our own inner being, whereby all of life must be included within the sphere that we identify as ourself, where everybody is truly our Sister & Brother, where all of life is truly one & we are one with it."
I think it's pretty cool to know that I have this poster hung up in my house and that it's also located in Ron's Garage which is just kitty corner to my backyard, where the message of One Love can be seen from a higher, bird's eye view.
I'd also like to share a quote about synchronicity that my good friend, Jason, text me today. I had never heard it before and feel it shares my exact feelings about synchronicity:
After I posted my first blog post, "The Hidden School: Life As A Great Teacher," it seemed only right that I go visit the Mary Jo Arboretum to take a walk since it was so vivid in my mind after writing about it and it was a gorgeous day. When I walked up to the entrance of the Formal Gardens, I took notice of a sign that I had seen before but this time its message resonated in me more powerfully than before.
What I feel when I read this message is hard to put into words. I feel inspiration but also sadness since we are now living in a time where there are so many people who have a profound disconnection to nature and plants and who have ultimately lost much of their sense of wonder in life. I know that nature holds cures for the ills of our time with its inherent power to heal our mind, body, and spirit. The Mary Jo Arboretum is definitely a place of healing as it nurtures our relationship with plants which can also be perceived as "teachers" since there is so much we can learn from the plant kingdom.
Little did I know after leaving the arboretum this day that the archetype (a universal pattern) of the Teacher would arise so strongly and that I was in for a surprise visit with a human teacher who would share her recent experience with a plant teacher...
Shortly after leaving the arboretum I had a surprise encounter with a woman I know, who I hadn't seen for many months. This woman, Karen, just so happens to be a retired middle school teacher who is a Master Gardener with a very strongly nurtured relationship with plants. I knew that Karen had recently returned from a trip to Peru so I asked her to share some of the adventures from her trip. To my total surprise, she shared that she had gone to see a Peruvian medicine man/ healer who works with plant medicine; specifically, the plant medicine called Ayahuasca which is considered to be a powerful Plant Teacher. Though I have never ingested ayahuasca I still feel I can learn a lot from this plant teacher by simply listening to and reading other's stories about their experience with "her." I say "her" as I refer to this plant teacher because many people who come into relationship with ayahuasca say that they experience or feel a presence of energy that is feminine in nature. Because of this, ayahuasca is also referred to as Lady Ayahuasca or Grandmother Ayahuasca. I asked Karen if she had felt a feminine energy during her experience and she exclaimed that she definitely felt she was in touch with with the Divine Feminine force. I loved hearing about her experience! I yearned to hear as much as she wanted to share with me but I understand that what one experiences with plant medicine is deeply personal and hard to put into words. Karen shared that she experienced a lot of wild visions and ultimately, had asked Grandmother Ayahuasca for a vision of what she should be doing for the next 20 years of her life. What a beautiful vision to receive. From what I had previously learned about this plant medicine is that it is also known to induce purging (vomiting and/or diarrhea), not just visionary experiences, so I asked Karen if she experienced purging. She shared that she did puke a few hours later, after the healing ceremony had ended. I was in complete awe listening to Karen's story and her courage to embark on such an adventure. I see Lady or Grandmother Ayahuasca as a powerful plant teacher with a lot of potential to promote healing of mind, body, and spirit, and that this plant teacher's inherent power deserves respect from those who choose to engage with and learn from "her." I plan to continue to learn more about ayahuasca and who knows, maybe someday I will travel to the Amazon or Peru to experience a healing ceremony with this plant medicine through the guidance of a trained healer. For now though, I will just read or listen to others' wisdom that they have gained from listening to Grandmother Ayahuasca.
If you are interested in learning more about ayahuasca, here is an awesome book to check out by Rachel Harris, PhD. I know I desire to listen...
I recently read Dan Millman's latest book, 'The Hidden School' and his incredible story resonated deep inside of me because I, too, discovered the same "hidden school" that Dan reveals in his story. In his book, Dan shares a story about an incredible journey he felt compelled to take in order to seek a hidden school in a far away land, only to learn that the greatest school lies behind the veil of everyday life.
I am grateful to have the perspective of viewing Life as a Great Teacher because I will forever feel like a student on the hunt for something more to learn. Wisdom and knowledge are like magnets that draw me forward toward a greater understanding of myself, my inner and outer world, which is what I deeply yearn to better know. I have learned that when I walk the Earth with an open mind and heart and humbly view myself as a student in the classroom of Life all while holding deep love, respect, and gratitude for Life as my Teacher, there is no limit to the vision of what I can see and learn. One of the greatest pieces of wisdom Life has taught me is that I have the power to see my inner world reflected back to me in the outer world since these worlds are intimately connected in ways I am still learning. More precisely, I have learned that what I choose to carry in my heart holds the potential to be reflected back to me in my outer world in the most surprising ways. The key to seeing the surprises is by going within oneself, where the greatest Teacher ultimately resides, to access powerful vision for seeing life in new and special ways. This special vision that we always have granted access to comes from our Heart. The story I am going to share in this post paints a beautiful picture of how my omnipresent Teacher taught me to know this priceless truth: What we choose to carry inside of us, in our heart, has the potential to be revealed to us as a beautiful reflection in our outer world.
I carry poems in my heart. One, in particular, is the poem my Grandpa Ralph wrote as he visited a pond on land he used to own many years ago. This pond and the land it is located on was near and dear to his heart as he had a great love for nature. My family and I became aware of this poem he wrote after he died which was his wish. My Grandpa shared this poem with only one person while he was alive and that person is the man, a dear friend, whom he sold this land with the pond to. After he died, this dear friend of his shared my Grandpa's poem with my family and it is now etched into his grave marker. It is a simple poem but it holds deeply beautiful meaning. According to my Grandpa's friend, my Grandpa had shared that this poem came to him as he was visiting the pond one day. This is very interesting to know because my Grandpa didn't seem like someone who would write a poem. It was a beautiful surprise. In my eyes, I view his poem as a gift that came to my Grandpa from his heart as he was enjoying solitude in nature.
Here is a picture of the pond that helped to inspire my Grandpa's poem. I had the pleasure of seeing the pond in person as well as meeting his dear friend who now owns the pond and the land where it's located.
And here is a picture of my Grandpa Ralph's gravestone...
I carry my Grandpa's poem in my heart because it holds deep meaning for me. It holds a simple yet profound message. I see it as a poem that paints a picture which shares the beauty and power of experiencing life and nature through our physical senses. Also, I see his poem as an embodiment of a sense, in and of itself, that goes beyond the five physical senses. After all, this poem came from his heart which is that place we all have inside of us that can sense something more...
Although I am aware that I carry my Grandpa's poem in my heart, it came as quite a surprise to me when I saw his poem reflected back to me in my outer world in a very surprising way in May 2016. My heart saw his poem's "reflection" as I was visiting one of my all-time favorite nature spots in my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota: the Mary Jo Arboretum. On the beautiful day of May 31, 2016 I felt the pull to once again go for a walk in the arboretum. I had just been there the day before, but I desired to return not only because it's an amazingly beautiful place but also because I was very curious to know if I what I had seen the day before flying high in the sky were a flock of hawks or turkey vultures. My curiosity was so strong to know which bird it was because hawks hold deep meaning for me. I figured if I saw the birds again that I could focus on them more, capture video of them, to be better able to identify them. So, my curiosity led me back to the arboretum. However, on this day I did not get to see any hawks, but that is okay because I got to experience something more surprising...
Once I pulled into the parking lot of the arboretum I saw two or three yellow school buses parked in the lot. When I got out of my car I quickly realized that there was a children's field trip going on at the arboretum this day. I saw that they were walking around the area of the Formal Gardens, where I desired to go, but since I didn't want to disturb their field trip I decided to walk down the gravel road instead which leads to a lower section of the arboretum. As I was making my way down the gravel road, walking by the fenced in area of the Formal Gardens where the children's field trip was taking place, that's when the beauty of my Grandpa's poem was reflected back to me in the most surprising way, near the pond that resides at the arboretum. As I was walking, I just so happened to hear one of the teachers say rather loudly to her students, "Okay, now we are going to go down to the pond and I want you to pay attention to your senses. Tell me what you hear." When I heard the teacher say this to her students, all at once a wave of powerful feeling crashed over me and my Grandpa's poem arose inside of my heart. I could feel my Grandpa's presence and it felt as if I could hear my Grandpa reciting his poem, saying, "I heard the wind blow..."
(Picture of the pond, sponsored by the Museum of Visual Materials, located at the Mary Jo Arboretum)
I'm easily brought to tears when I go back into this memory because it touched my heart so deeply, beyond words. I know that what I had experienced was a synchronicity which was revealing a reflection of what I carry in my heart and in that moment I felt the powerful presence of my own inner Teacher and Student. My memory of this experience continues to teach me to open up even more to my senses, those that are physical and those that can sense beyond the physical realm from the place of recognition, my Heart.
(A sign located at the arboretum which holds a quote I carry in my heart...)
