Daily Dose of Wild Woman

We take turns supplying the doses, from books we are reading, and thoughts that are inspiring to us, and in turn we inspire each other. This selection is from a recent week's worth of doses. Enjoy the thoughts here, the quotes of those who know the wild nature, and we hope you are inspired as well.

A Letter from "The Grandmother of the World"

Dear Ones,

If you have ever been called defiant, incorrigible, forward, cunning, insurgent, unruly, rebellious--take heart. there is yet time...practice. Andele! And again.

To begin with, take on meaning wherever you can, as though it is the air you must breathe in order to not only survive, but to thrive. Find work and events that leave you feeling well used, rather than just aggravated and angry. If on the road you encounter a sign that reads "Keep Out", understand the true nature of wisdom, consider carefully and most of the time, do not "keep out". Remember, there is almost nothing that cannot be helped or improved by love, warmth, mercy and a small but wild gleam in one's eye.

Caveats? Beware of people with smiles that light up quickly, but drop away like black eels as soon as you turn away. Beware of grinning people carrying daggers who say they are not daggers but rather gladioli that just happen to be painted to look like daggers. Avoid those who maintain minds so narrow that they can see through a keyhole with both eyes.

To remain strong choose able fellow travelers. Bypass whiners, blamers and complainers. Whiners trail long slimy weeds behind for everyone to trip over. blamers waste everyones time by pointing to the same problems over and over,without ever truly putting their own cajones or ovarios on the line. Complainers drain and delay everyone with petty predictabilities. Their ice cream is always too cold and their soup is always too hot.

Elude, as well, people who nip away at your time, your resources, just a little here and there. "Surely you don't mind...."they wheedle. Mind.

Practice mercy. don't be ashamed to be a person of faith, whichever faith that might be. If you follow Christ, act like Christ. if you follow Buddha, echo Buddha. Whether you love Theotokos, or the Goddess, or The Prophet or study the great Rebbes--all the great ones are characterized by kindness and kinship with all, rather than by bickering, keel-hauling and killing. When you hear a politician or "reformer" disparaging the poor, the uneducated, the sick, the lonely, the tormented, the helpless--change sides.

Rekindle forgotten beatitudes: Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Practice Descansos y flores blancos: planting the dark ground with white flowers wherever atrocities or death have taken place. Be mindful that in la lucha, matters of deep change, God is often put on trial by detractors. step forward as lead counsel for the defense.

Vigor and humor are the keys to longevity, helping one to rise up again and again. Do not forget to appall your critics often: Tell them "I have worse news for you yet; there's more of my work yet to come; much, much more." In disheartening moments, remember that you can weep and be fierce at the same time. Let the tiny lights of your tears be lights on the path for others. Resist much. You will be asked to accept the conventional wisdom:"First you crawl, then you walk>" Confound them all! Get up off your knees. fly first. Soar second.

So it may be for you, so may it be for me, so may it be for all of us.

No lack of love,
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
On behalf of "The Grandmother of the World"
Op-Ed in The Rocky Mountain Times

When you your center is firm, when your faith is strong and unwavering, then it will not matter what company you keep. Then you will see that all beings are on the evolutionary journey of consciousness. They differ only to the degree that the viel of illusion clouds thier vision. But for you....... you will see behind the viel of to the place where we are all ONE.

Ram Dass

Sean Healy 1968 An Atheist's Prayer

I want to live,
to see the flower's opening lips
drink in the Summer's rain
and not
the frightened eyes of orphans
crazed with pain.
To see,
the golden moon rise up above
the distant hill,
A lover's moon,
and not a bomber's out to kill.
To hope,
that man shall follow man
as has happened since the race began
and that the line
continues endless until the end of time.
No god or gods I ask for help,
Let men appeal to men,
'Give us this our daily bread'
Not bombs ...... AMEN.......AMEN

"Maybe Leo Rosten was right when he said the purpose of life isimply to count, to matter, to have it make some difference that you lived at all. Maybe that's essential. I wrote a list of words that I feel are a guide to what is essential:

1. Right Knowledge, to supply you with the tools necessary for your voyage.

2. Wisdom, to assure you that you are using the accumulated knowledge of the past in a manner that will best serve the discovery of your presence, your "now".

3. Compassion, to help you accept others whose ways may be different from yours, with gentleness and understanding, as you move with them or through them or around them on your way.

4. Harmony, to be able to accept the natural flow of life.

5. Creativity, to help you to realize and recognize new alternatives and unchartered paths along the way.

6. Strength, to stand up against fear and move forward in spite of uncertainty, without guarantee or payment.

7. Peace, to keep you centered.

8. Joy, to keep you songful, and laughing and dancing all along the way.

9. Love, to be your continual guide towards the highest level of consciousness of which man is capable.

10. Unity, which brings us back to where we started - the place where we are at one with ourselves and with all things."
Leo Buscaglia - Living, Loving and Learning

The Third Path of Transformation

Indigenous tribal cultures worldwide practice forms of etiquette that are as individual and diverse as the tribes themselves. One thread running through many tribes is the practice of speaking no harm. The habits of working in silence or singing while at work leave no ruoom for careless, hurtful words or gossip. Th understanding that all words reflect and create positive or negative energy in the unseen worlds keeps negative chatter from bringing discord into daily life.

When he was on the third path of initiation, Buckminster Fuller came across the realization that negative feelings, critical thoughts, and abusive behavior drain life force. Near the end of his military career, he became acutely aware that his personal addiction to > alcohol and the ensuing rage-filled behavior were destroying his marriage and his family. With his wife's agreement, he had a doctor wire his jaws shut so that he could not verbally abuse anyone. His diet was monitored and fed to him in liquid form by his wife through a straw. During this voluntary period of silence, he discovered that he was forced to acknowledge his additions, his destructive feelings, and his negative thoughts without being able to escape through his former denials or by projecting abuse onto others. He healed his shadow, and in return he was funded with boundless ideas and inspiration.

On the third path of initiation, we begin to realize that everything we think, feel, dream, and do contains our life force. That life force energy is propelled by our intent and motivated by our personal will. If we have invested our energy in criticizing ourselves or others, we have drained the bank account of life force that could be used for inspiration, physical vitality or creativity.
From Dancing the Dream: The Seven Sacred Paths of Human Transformation, by Jamie Sams