honoring mom :-)

I've written briefly about my dad and my grandmother, who have both passed on.
I've only touched upon my mother in passing.
It's high time to rectify that.
This is my mother. Today is (soon to be was) her birthday.
She can make me laugh long and loud. She can also drive me completely crazy. ;-)

We don't always agree on life and all that's in it. She thinks I've got my head a bit too high in the clouds; I think she could take off the Lenses of Lack and see things as they truly are. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Having said that, the fact that my mother and I talk with each other on a regular basis, let alone live together - in this day and age, with mothers and daughters so estranged, that's saying something.

The daybook I'm going this year through talks about honoring my parent/s, considering what they've taught me. So what has my mother taught me?

She has taught me compassion, generosity, patience.
She has inspired me to go past my limitations, when she cannot.
Most of all, she has shown me that when a woman must carry on, against seemingly overwhelming odds, she can...and will.

Happy Birthday, Mom. :-)

Signs of Spring ~ a picture post

I wanted to show Spring arriving in Southern California...especially for anyone who might be challenged, in one way or another, in seeing the miracles unfolding around them every day at this time. So, without further ado...

~The first new leaves on a tree~

~Tender tendrils of ivy~

~Lovely delicate flowers~

~Brilliantly green clover~

~Pretty pink blossoms~

~Loquats ripening on the tree...they will be the very first harvest!~

~A spray of playful purple blooms~

~Mmmm, jasmine! I could bury my nose in this... ;-) ~

~Bird of Paradise flower...totally appropriate to where I live.~

May these pictures of Spring help thaw you out of your Winter... :-)

...and then she woke up :-)

The promise has been kept, and delivered upon.

As the moon hid behind Her veil and restored Herself, I felt myself awakening, as from a long sleep...in this case, a Winter's nap.
Warm weather dances in Southern California at long last, gods be praised!

It has been three months since my Soul Retrieval. Lady~M said it would be that long before my new shielding took hold. For two and a half of those three months, I wore a citrine and clear-quartz necklace to give myself a little extra protection as things took root and shifted within me. When the necklace "fell off" the third time, that was my signal to take it off for good - I didn't need it anymore. As the third month came to graceful conclusion, something has taken hold, all right!

A switch has been flipped. I feel as though I've come home to myself after a long and interesting journey away, though I've been here all along. Most interesting.
So now I move through the endgame of my second tour of duty at the answering service; my last day will be next Friday. Great Mother, this point seemed SO far away when I began this nocturnal sojourn! Now I can not only see the light at the end of the tunnel, but also the end of the tunnel itself. Almost there! :-)

In between here and there is a yummy stop called Ostara - the Spring Equinox! Time to have a little fun!

Once again, Life Is Good. Praise the Mother and Her Crazy Children! (lol)

still afloat in the sea of overwhelm

They who pray upon Grandmother Ocean's bosom. Encinitas, 11/09

This image speaks to me right now, where I am at.
I am floating on a vast sea, an overwhelming sea.
Sometimes the waves come, and I can ride them; other times, the waves knock me off my board, and I plunge into the water...yet I here I am, bobbing back to the surface once more.

Mother thinks it's because my internal timeclock is completely skewed by these graveyard shifts I'm working - fewer now than when I started, but I still need to make that shifting of my shape on Wednesdays. Friends of mine believe that the earth's energies are shifting, and that those who are in any way sensitive to those energies - like me, apparently! - will feel the push and pull as well. I also consider that there has been much death recently, in my "real-life" community and in my online one...people I knew, people connected to people I knew, tragic realities striking close to home.
I'm also one to embody energy from collectives, small and large, and express it through me: screaming and sobbing, as well as joyous and blissful. Again, a recent discovery.

Any of these things, in and of themselves, would serve to throw me off; ALL of these things add up to a much greater whole, looking like a vast sea of overwhelm!
My body even confirms this, with my uber-wonderful & intuitive massage therapist noting that my liver is swollen, overwhelmed by trying to keep me detoxed and healthy...confirmation that I am indeed pushed to my limits, on all levels.

One moment, I am pitched into the overwhelm, and it surges up within me and surrounds me and consumes me. So very tired and wrung out and BLAH, I am! But the next moment...
The next moment, I remember:
I remember that I am about two weeks away from leaving my job and moving up to the Next Level in my life.
I remember that I have a homecoming with my soul family, my beloved Lightworking Tribe, for Easter weekend. Rebirthing, indeed!
I remember that I have been through far worse, yet I am still here! Fall down seven times, rise eight. :-)
I remember that I have a few tricks up my sleeve, like milk thistle and broccoli and grapefruit juice to help my liver physically - like bloodstone and brown jasper to help me energetically - like finding the root of my anger and releasing it with "unsent letters" to help me emotionally!
Most of all, I remember how to find the amusing components in all of this turmoil and flux. Should I ever lose my sense of humor, run. fast. and far away, because that means the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (not of professional wrestling) are coming! ;-)

I'm just really happy that there's a New Moon on Monday, like Duran Duran sings about...and that Ostara, the Spring Equinox, will follow shortly thereafter - and in the meantime, we'll start getting some REAL springlike weather in Southern California! Laugh all you want, those who don't live here, but SoCal peeps are just not accustomed to polar winds blowing directly from Alaska! (It wouldn't surprise me if Sarah Palin had something to do with this. Just sayin')

As you can see, I've gotten back on my surfboard now, ready for another round.
Unlike the surfers above, though, I'm looking forward to calmer seas. Word.