Imbolc 14

The seeds of change are planted and taking root. The planting continues but already the focus shifts to tending the newly rooted and soon to be rooted crop. Tend well for the seeds are of all of Tribe and herd. Tend well for those of the Source are of the change.

The crop will product exactly what is needed for Tribe and herd and any of Tribe and herd. Let each be as is meant to be just as You and Yours become what is intended and right. Move in trust and anticipate with joy the crop that comes.

The Z Report (Happy 8th Birthday, Zerek, Love, Pop-Pop)

Sometimes I wonder how Z-Man is doing. He is active and runs in his own circle of friends and life. Life keeps him quite busy and our paths cross less than daily so I am prone to wonder. Hoping he is alright. Want to make sure one of my favorite people is healthy and happy.

Each time I see him, he seems to be. In fact, he seems to be doing even better each time. He grows up quickly in very important and cool ways. This bundle of energy is more focused. I want to say calmer but that is not it. He is still a bundle of energy. Has been since, well, forever. Now his energy is different. Just as present…..just not as frenzied. He is under self-control and that makes his energy more impressive to see.

He is happier too. More prone to share and laugh and play. Used to shift his moods pretty quickly and now he is happier much longer and that is just nice…for him and for all that know and love him. He smiles more and more and that is a great trend when it comes to moods and living.

Still I wonder. Hoping that life challenges and the world at large works in his favor. So I look for the evidence. Evidence that he is doing well.

I find it in her eyes. She is younger than he is. Six years younger, plus or minus a few days or months. She is Z-Man’s kid sister. Z-Man is four times as old as she is. He is more than an older brother to her. He is Z-Man.

She lets me see how he is doing when I look in her eyes when she looks at him. She looks at him a lot. When they play, and they play a lot, bliss shines from her eyes. Everything is right with the world because Z-Man and her are all that matters at those moments. Her eyes light up when Z-Man talks to her about his day, dinner, Pippin, or his latest adventure. She loves Z-Man.

She shows me how he is doing. They have each other and the world is full of love and trust. The downs pass quickly and the ups last a long time. She lets me know how he is doing because she shows how much she loves him. Love that he gives her with his attention and time. Seems easy in a way. Give your attention and time and you give love. Z-Man gives his sister his attention and time. He shows that she matters to him. He makes her feel important and loved and she loves him all the more each time. So I look at her eyes to see how he is doing.

Z-Man is doing alright. In fact, he is doing really well.

Happy 8^th Birthday, Zerek.

Love, Pop-Pop

Imbolc 13

Change will be as the weather. There always. The weather is part of the landscape. It is affected by your location and choice of place to be. It is beyond your control and must be factored in all you do. Shelter from it at its fiercest. Brave it when needed to accomplish essentials.

Curse not the rain but see the vegetation that follows. Rage not at the cold but huddle to the fire and anticipate the warm of the more summer of days. Hate not the storm that kept you from where you were going but look to see the place you are for the storm was for a reason and you are where you are for a purpose.

Imbolc 12

Fasting and sacrifice should be routine as Imbolc moves forward. The seasons shift and flow. The flesh and spirit need reminders of sweetness and taste and abstinence can foster that. Learn not to take anything for granted by willingly and eagerly offering your treats. Use this time to also curb weakness for habits are broken with routine as sure as they are made with them.

Empath at Eight (Happy Birthday, Ethan Wood---Love, Pop-Pop)

Eight year old boys are eight year old boys and this kid I know is very much an eight year old boy. Likes video games, rough house, fart jokes, Legos, Batman, and tons of things germane to the wonders of a eight year old world. This one kid is a bit different though. He is an Empath.

Empaths have a gift. The gift of feeling others’ feelings. Some might think it a curse. I did and resisted that very gift inside myself for decades. Called in the gifted ones to understand what people really felt and appreciated how important it is to know. Just wanted it to be someone else’s gift. Anyone else’ gift.

I know one that lives his gift at an early age. Showed it early and often. Feels what others’ feel and moves on what he feels. Watched as he moved to comfort a friend who was in a time out during Karate class. Not even his Karate class. Just a kid he knew in passing from another class. I watched as the Empath went over and sat near his friend. He wasn’t asked….he just felt. Just knew. The Empath knew the kid needed company. Needed to know time out was just time out. The Empath went and sat without a word. Just comforted.

Then the day of great wisdom arrived. The Empath held his brother….held the baby that was meant to be. I saw the wise Elder. The one that knew exactly how important that moment was. When asked if he was ready to leave, the Empath said, in a soft voice that explained all he needed in one word, “No.”. So we stayed a while longer.

It was magic. It was a then seven year old holding his brother, comforting his mother and father, and inspiring his Pop-Pop. He was quiet, reverent, loving, healing, and fully present. The most present one in the room……well, except for his brother. It was then I knew how very special the Empath really was. He felt things….and understood what he felt…….and knew exactly what to do.

Eyes that shined with only slightly withheld tears. Tears of unconditional love and amazing strength. He was fully present. Above the shock and trauma of the moment that gripped most there. Barely eight…..and he was the Elder. I watched and learned from him that day. Saw the man he already is and the greatness that is his for all the days ahead.

Ethan Wood turns eight today. He is a good kid with kid likes and kid adventures. He is more though……..he is an Empath. That makes his eighth birthday even more special. Enjoy the moment, Ethan. I love you and I am deeply honored to know there are beings like you on this planet.

Happy Birthday, Ethan Wood.

I love you, Pop-Pop

Write-In

My vote counts. That is why I am writing-in my vote in the next presidential election. It is my decision. It is only one vote but it is my vote. My voice to the Washington that listens to others long before they hear what I have to say. I will write-in my vote as a statement that it was my decision about the individual that represents me as President. My vote is my voice……and my voice will be heard and known long before one vote on one day in one election. My vote is merely part of my voice. You are hearing it now. Suggest you remember it because it is here everyday inside of me. Now…..about my vote.

It might be a Democrat. It might be a Republican. It might be something else. Might be a man. Might be a woman. It will be a person that will go to Washington to lead. To set the example for those in Washington and everyone that looks to Washington as representative of this country to the world. They will be the best choice I can make based on the information I gather and evaluate.

I live beyond party. I live beyond interest group. I live beyond pay-offs and payola. I will not be brought and sold with a sound-bite, a glad hand, and any damn poll. My vote is not based on fear or greed. It is based on hope and civic responsibility. I paid my dues and will be heard. One vote. One voice. A voice that says what I do is good enough for me and it is good enough for the world. I look to Washington to follow my example. They will know I am here and that I can and will survive them at their weakest but hope they are at the best someday again soon. My vote matters…..to me. That is why I will base it on what is best for me and the world I touch everyday.

Almost started a group. League of American Voters. Something. We don’t need another stinking group. We need a lot of ones. One vote people. One voice people. Their own voice. We are nation of ones. One people. People that decide. People that lead. People that know they do matter and are willing to let Washington hear us. Write-in. Righting. Right-on. Left wing, right wing, anything but broken wings and broken promises. We promise to do our best and vote like it matters because it does. I can write-in my vote, write them off, and write them out anytime because……my voice is loud and clear to me and will be loud and clear to them forever.

My next President is a write-in. I will put you on the ballot…even if someone else put you there first. My vote will be a write-in because I am more than a follower….more than a flip of a switch. That is my message, Washington. So…..show me what ya got, boys and girls. You better start doing better than you are and have been.

I am writing-in my vote in 2012 and will know who I will vote for when I walk into the booth. Between now and then, I will watch what Washington does and vote based on performance rather than promise. I am an independent voter and the political parties lost my respect. They will hear my voice though……in the voting booth….or sooner if need be. My vote still matters……..my voice is much louder than one vote though and that is what they will know forevermore. Election day is just one day when I matter….I matter everyday and that is my message to anyone anywhere.

Lent

Lent. May have to borrow some of it. From that place I knew as a child. A Catholic kid back when the flag and the cross meant good things and made me proud.

Lent. It was always my favorite season. It was Holy in ways bigger than I understood then and even more important now. The sweet feel of self discipline…a wonderful brick in the foundation of growth. Rituals. Ceremonies. Hiding things in plain sight so we appreciate them when we let ourselves see what is already there. Kneeling. Crawling. Stations of the Cross. Incense. Somber and pious people focused on making it through to the Resurrection. Metaphoric. Meteoric. Heroic. Such wonderful times. Each day a day of more holiness and increasing insights. It was more than giving up candy and cake. It was doing with less. It was celebrating doing without so that we understood what we had and could do without just because we were stronger than habit, custom, and comfort. Suffering is important…..doing is important. A choice of embracing our mettle. Suffering for the noble cause of honing ourselves. Proving something to ourselves that we need to know. Remembering how strong we are. Lent was our time to prove to ourselves that we would and that we could.

Lent. Proving we could change. Proving we would change. Actually doing it, even for a finite period. Enough time to know we had an out……salvation awaiting. We eased into Lent and had the end in sight when we struggled. We had the end of the trials and tribulations right there to ensure we stayed with it. Lent was like that. It gave us reason to change. To improve. To sacrifice. To endure. To show we were more than creature comforts and bad habits that we knew we were better off without anyway.

Lent. Lent was the time we remind ourselves not to be lazy. Lazy in what we thought about and did each day. We brought our spiritual connection from that once a week thing to an everyday thing. The offering of self brought us together as a community of doers. A community of people willing to break their routine to be better about choices that we made and lived each day.

Lent. We can use a little Lent right about now. We can use a lot of Lent right about now. We need to remember that we can and should and then actually do things. We need to remind ourselves that our spirituality is an every day thing and that we can change in important ways……inside. Forever.

Lent….it is for all of us. Happy Ash Wednesday, Citizens.