Loose Lips Sink Ships

During World War II a common saying was, "Loose lips might sink ships."  The slogan was created during a campaign reminding people how important it was to mind what we say.  Our words could result in unintended and dire consequences.  Lives could be lost.

Very serious indeed.  "Loose lips sink ships."

For me, this slogan serves as a reminder about my word choices today.  Words have power, regardless of the children's rhyme...sticks and stones hurt, but we can use words to hurt ourselves or use them as the scaffolding of our thoughts and ideas and then as the bricks with which we build our lives.  Words shape our perception.

I often catch myself saying things like how "good" I was today because I exercised, or how "bad" I was because I hit the vending machine instead of the apple sitting on my desk.  Oh, I'll be "better" tomorrow!  Of course, this "always" happens...

I call this failspeak. It's so pervasive, it's amazing how often I use it.

But wait!  I have good news!  I'm aware that I'm using these words.  I know, it might not seem like much, but just being aware of the way I speak means I can change the words I use...change the power I wield.  Change my perception.

Abracadabra! Magic words.

Instead I can say I "chose" a different path today, or I "listened" to myself when I made this choice.  I can ask questions instead of make pronouncements about my choices: why did I do this today?  How did it make me feel?  How does doing that instead make me feel? Instead of a mother scolding a sulky and defeated child (also me!) I become the compassionate mother, enfolding the hurt and disappointed child in my arms (oh yes! much better!).  

Instead of fearing what I might become I love what I am. No forgiveness needed. No secular sin committed.

Divine Mother, take me in your loving arms and sooth my hurts so that I might see my true desires within my wounded heart.  Hold my hand and guide me over the rough stones that fall in my path.  Gently direct me toward loving self-forgiveness and clear sight. Amen.

Majeeda Rosa

Dream Talking

Do you listen to your dreams? What are they telling you?

I had wonderfully vivid dreams this week, downright fantastical. They had a thread of transformation running through them, even though the content of each had nothing in common. I rely on my dreams to help guide me. I'll commonly ponder a question at bedtime then put it out of my mind before I fall asleep. Then I let my subconscious take over.

Powerful thing that subconscious. Tricky too.

Dreams speak to us in powerful, primal ways. Start with the language. Your dream consciousness communicates with you in symbols specific to your way of thinking. Forget all those dream symbol books - use the associations you've formed with images. For instance, a spider may mean danger to someone else, but for me spiders in my dreams stand for annoying work problems that are crawling at the edge of my mind.

Dream language can be very literal. If you find yourself troubled because you're "playing the field" or "whistling Dixie" you may very well find yourself literally doing these actions in your dream! When I review a dream I always watch for a play on words and what it might represent.

Sometimes I'll keep a dream log to track a series of dreams. I might not always see the answer in a single dream. Like a deep discussion with a friend, sometimes it takes some digging to peel back the layers of the issue. Sometimes it takes some distance from the problem - writing down your dreams then coming back to them a week later can provide some insight not readily apparent at first glance.

Finally, sometimes dreams are just dreams, bits of flotsam and jetsam in the current of our minds helping us restore order.

Sometimes dreams are more than dreams. In that twilight place between conscious and unconscious a doorway opens. These dreams have a special vibrancy - receive them as the gift they are.

Dear Lord, you are the great communicator, finding hidden pathways to our heart. There is always a channel through your love for us to reach those who've passed. I will forever be grateful that through my waking resistance you opened a door for my beloved mother to ease my pain; a beautiful dream of my mother in glowing white telling me that everything is fine. Thank you for that moment of grace and hope.

Majeeda Rosa

Your Home is your Sanctuary

I'm enjoying my Spring cleaning week and time away from worklife. This week, I offer a house blessing, one I created for my friend "S" that you can adapt to your own needs. Use it any time you wish to enhance the joy in your own sanctuary!

And yes, you can adapt it to your workspace - I'd love to hear how you've used this in your own life!

S’s House Blessing

The house is “cleaned” by whisking stagnant and negative energy out the door with herbs and a fresh broom, working clockwise throughout the house.  Negative energies are asked to be released and those that are harmonious are asked to remain and be blessed.  

S is invited to call upon, greet, and invite any ancestors, deities or spirit guides to dwell in the house if they please. Prayers of goodwill are said in each room of the house. Candlelight is brought into each corner to illuminate any hidden areas.  Salt is placed on the threshold and the guardians of the home are asked to allow free entry to those who are invited by S, and to keep those who would do harm by word, thought or deed turned away.

Bread, wine and oranges are brought forth.
 
“A house is sentient, it has a heart and soul and eyes with which to see.  It has approvals, solicitudes and deep sympathies.  It is of you, and you live in its confidence and grace and within the peace of its benedictions.  Let this house welcome you and provide both joy when you wake within and comfort when you return from without.”
 
The bread is broken with a bit for each person in the room and a separate portion for the house.  “Let this bread be eaten that there may never be hunger within your walls.”
 
Wine is poured into cups for each person and the house.  “Let this wine be sipped that the richness of life is savored as it enters your windows.”
 
An orange section is offered to each person and the house.  “Let these oranges be enjoyed that the sweet gifts of friendship and happiness always lighten your threshold.”
 
“You who are the Master Builder, Mother of the Hearth and Father of Homecoming, Generous Provider of Sacred Space, bless S and the home in which she lives.  Thank you for the haven of hospitality she has discovered here.  Thank you for the shelter that protects her soul each night.  Thank you for the solace of this home which embraces, nurtures, sustains, and comforts her.  Bless the foundation upon which she walks, the walls that surround, the roof that covers, the windows that enlighten, and the threshold that welcomes her.  May the peace and plenty she so richly shares with others be her daily portion.  May those she invites into her life and within these walls feel the light and happiness of this home. Thank you for this sanctuary, this House of Belonging.”
 
Finish the offerings and leave the home’s portion out, then offer it to the yard birds and trees sheltering your home the next day.

Well come!

Majeeda Rosa

Hooray for Spring Cleaning!

Next week is Spring cleaning for me. Each March I schedule time off from work to play "catchup" with my household chores. I treasure this week. I think everyone should make time for Spring cleaning!

Ahem. Do I detect raised eyebrows? I'll explain.

This week is cathartic for me, a time to shake the dusty hand of Winter off my shoulder and grab the young hand of Spring for a game of crack the whip. It's a time of activity that reaches into all aspects of my life. Spring cleaning makes room for fresh ideas and welcomes good chi.

I make THE LIST. Oh no! Expectations! I have to check everything off to succeed! I'll never accomplish this.

Back the truck up, Jack!

My list is about focus. I treat it like a treasure map so that I don't lose my way during this precious time I've set aside. Each item on the list is a jewel I can choose to select or not, at my whim. The list has tasks for every aspect of my life: physical, spiritual, mental and emotional. Many of the tasks address more than one facet. Sweeping the floor can be just as spiritual as refreshing my alter. Dancing with a friend can serve both emotional and physical selves.

At the end of this special week, I'll conclude with a house blessing ritual. I'd like to share that with you next time, just in case you'd like to join me. For now...

Giver of life and joy, thank you for this sacred time. As I renew myself, so do I renew my faith in you. Guide my hand as I make my house a home and rediscover my passion for being on this earth, in this place and time. Thank you for all my senses, so that I may appreciate this life fully.

Majeeda Rosa

How's Your Bubble?

How's your "life bubble" - that comfortable space consisting of practices, people, and opinions that form your reality? We all live in one. It's comfortable. Familiar. Expected: if THIS, then THAT...knowable. We're experts, anthropologists of our own bubble world.

Or are we?

Like any good scientist, this anthropologist needs to conduct some observations. Maybe run some experiments. The native is restless.

Hmmm...do I detect a loss of territory? Have my experiences to date led me to limiting beliefs? Are there concepts and opinions that have become "facts" within my bubble world? Do I discount any challenges to my facts as exceptions to the rule? How about "can't" and "won't" - have they grown like invasive Kudzu? Why "can't" I?

It's hard to challenge reality, uncover the uncomfortable.

The thing I'm most scared of is that there's no such thing as a little change. What if my bubble bursts? Everything expected and knowable is gone. How do you get comfortable with that?

God, in your unfathomable expansiveness, open my mind. Let me gather my thoughts and conclusions not as flowers to collect, but seeds to plant so that they continue to grow. Bless me with foresight learned from experience and judgment that expands with perspective. Help me be comfortable with not knowing and experience the moment for what is rather than what I want it to be. Amen.