"Where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow."

I love this quote from the classic, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (which you can get for free as a Kindle Book. I love the Kindle free library!):

"Where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow."

It neatly sums up the entire premise of her book which is the importance of our thoughts and what we chose to cultivate within. I'm reminded of a quote in my Kindle ebook, Child of God: The Humble Beginnings of Joan of Arc. Joan's town of Domremy had recently been attacked by the English. A battle waged within her as she witnessed the cruelty of man and found herself at a critical juncture of decision--how would she respond? Archangel Micheal visits her and upon seeing her struggle gently inquires:

"Where do you permit your mind and heart to take you? Do you allow the vice of discouragement to wind its way inward, or do you allow the Voice of guidance to provide sweet consolation? Do you listen to language of sad earth, or language of hope?"

Interestingly, when I wrote the above passage years ago, it was taken directly from a private journal entry, and the question had been posed to me. I, too, had been at a critical point in my life and was reminded of the importance of cultivating consolation, compassion and goodness--the rose.

If goodness is within, there is no room for its opposite--where you tend a rose...a thistle cannot grow. On this snowy afternoon, may the peaceful blessings falling from the sky here in Tahoe find their way to you and cover the inner garden you're tending with a blanket of inspiration.

Martin Luther King, Jr. STILL gives me goosebumps...

Happy MLK day IC peeps! As is my MLK holiday tradition, I just finished listening to MLK's "I have a dream..." speech. It's by far one of the top 10 speeches in American history in my humble opinion, a close first to Abraham Lincoln's, Gettysburg Address, "Four score and seven years ago...." which in fact highly influenced MLK's dream speech written one hundred years later as he built upon Lincoln's 1863 unheard of proposition that "all men are created equal." MLK is a prime example of a man who pursued his North Star with great devotion and diligence. I highlighted him last year in a MLK Freedom Series blog article.

Even though MLK's physical form is gone, his merits, words and ideals are far from dead (IC Truth #2 Energy never dies it just changes form)--I still get goosebumps listening to him, especially these lines:

• "In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."

• "There are those who are asking...'When will you be satisfied!'....No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

The first quote is a beautiful reminder to conduct oneself by LIVING his or her highest ideals (North Stars), which for MLK and the civil rights devotees were justice and freedom for all. The second quote is a beautiful visual using the metaphor of nature, which is 100% equanimous, always, no exception. 

May you remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today and be inspired and filled with his goodness, his mercy and his belief in things yet unseen. In thanksgiving, how might you--"...allow freedom to ring--when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last."

Aurora Movie Theater Remembrance and Reopening

Last night, folks streamed into Denver's Century Aurora movie theater for the first time since a gunman fired on a sold-out show of The Dark Knight Rises almost six months ago to the day. A remembrance ceremony was held for survivors, first responders and friends and family members of the victims. I found myself touched by the resiliency of one man in attendance, Marcus Weaver, who was not only shot but also lost his friend. He spoke honestly of the fear he overcame in going to the event. Even his therapist was unsure if he could handle revisiting the scene, but something inside Marcus told him he needed to face his fear and in doing so, he transformed it:

• "I walked up to door very apprehensive, nervous and anxious. This guy wanted to take a picture with me, so I said ok. It turns out his brother had passed in the theater and he wanted to come and represent much like me. His brother is Matt McQuinn, he protected his family from gunfire. Amazing courage. It gave me courage to go inside."

• It was so difficult. Tons of people, so Megan Sharp (his girlfriend) and I ducked in a theater and prayed. Then things seemed less, as the Lord became more.

Once inside the theater where the massacre took place he was unexpectedly greeted by 14 year old Kaylen Bailey. When I saw the picture of the two of them they both seemed to glow! Marcus had met Kaylen five years earlier, serving food to the homeless. Her heartbreaking 911 calls from inside the theater were played during the shooter's evidence hearing last week. Marcus embraced Kaylen, "She was my answer, heaven sent." 

Aren't people good? Yes, most definitely, yes. One horribly disturbed individual impacted the lives of those in the Aurora theater last July, but many hundreds of good, good people have provided comfort, love and support:

• Last night the shooter would have probably been upset to see all the things he tried to tear down have been built back up again. The carpet is different, the paint is new and the backdoor he went through isn't even there. He would have seen Kaylen sitting by me, giving me hugs and smiles and comfort....Am I glad I went? Yes. Am I completely healed? No....I didn't realize how much I have grown personally until I sat back in that seat. I have changed physically (shoulder), mentally (PTSD), but my heart was renewed.

When I read Marcus's words, I was reminded of Inner Constellation Truth #3: Everything, no matter how challenging, has the ability to be transformed. Also, I was reminded of IC Truth #2: Energy never dies it just changes form--the brother of the man who lost his life instilled Marcus with courage. Even though the brother had died, his heroic act of saving members of his family from harm continued to have profound effect, not only in the testimony of lives spared but in the bolstering of yet another fellow victim.   

 My love of metaphor prompted me to look up the meaning of the word, "Aurora." Interestingly, it means--dawn, daybreak, morning, as well as the obvious--the beauty of the Northern Lights shining in night sky. The surrounding dark just highlights those bright and beautiful lights--Marcus, Kaylen, the brother, Matt McQuinn, and all the good people of Aurora even more. 

Become a Chinese Finger Trap

Happiest new year to you all! I just returned from a 10 day Vipassana Meditation retreat and have received many questions about my experience, so I thought to write a blog article. I knew very little about what I was getting into, and interestingly, the things I thought might be difficult (not eating after 12 noon, keeping the body warm while sitting still for long periods of time) were not so difficult, and the things I thought would be easy (vow of silence for 10 days, getting away from the daily grind) were not easy at all. By day two I was in a groove with the dining arrangement, enjoying thoroughly the light breakfast and delicious vegetarian lunch provided. In the evening, raw fruit and tea was served. I have quick metabolism and feared hunger would prove a distraction, but it didn't, and interestingly, it felt good to be light and hollow (condition one to becoming a Chinese Finger Trap...be patient, I'm getting there:). The floors were heated, so I was cozy as cozy can be and in damp Northern California with record lows, that was a blessing. The vow of silence was painstaking. When I saw other people having a hard time during our ten days, it was very difficult to not comfort them in the typical ways we tend to comfort. No communication or touch of any kind was permitted. So, I took to looking for ways of comforting that didn't involve any of the above: opening doors for people, turning serving spoons toward the next person in line, constructing a heart out of moss and leaving it outside the door to our cabin when one of my cabin mates was having a hard time. I guess this was technically communicating, oops. Regarding getting away from it all--I felt completely sensory deprived: lighting so low in the meditation hall it looked like dusk 24-7, no chairs to be found except during dining times, no talking, no touching, no extraneous mind chatter.... By day three, honestly, I was bored to tears. But all this changed once I got over the hump of day three.

This brings us to the meditation practice and becoming a Chinese Finger Trap. We sat for eleven hours a day, yes, eleven. I didn't know this until I showed up at the retreat. Not that a schedule wasn't sent, it was, but I decided if I looked, I would be scared away. I know, silly, but have you ever known you had to do something without fully understanding why? The Vipassana technique matches perfectly the Inner Constellation theory of wellness and is elegant in it's simplicity--so much so, that it may seem too simple to be effective: consciously breathe through the nose while scanning the body for any and all sensations without trying to change or manipulate anything--be present with whatever you sense without attraction or aversion. Why did I choose to observe myself like this, you might ask? In my work with trauma, my counseling skills only get me so far. I see the great need for equanimity above all else, to not judge what I'm hearing for this immediately takes me out of the present and into the trauma. I also know that when I begin to have an aversion to what I'm hearing, or experiencing in my own body, my effectiveness stops cold.

After 110 hours of sitting like this, did I reach Nirvana, did I obtain enlightenment and equanimity? Not exactly, but among the mundane experiences, I had some truly disembodied experiences, one of which was a very distinct feeling that I was enclosed in a woven cocoon and gently stretched and pulled from head to toe. "Chinese Finger Toy," crossed my mind as I experienced the sensations. The only way to get out of such a device is to relax and stop pulling, stop tugging, stop trying to control. This I did to the best of my ability and began to realize that during retreat I was a craver, my mind often chased the future of reuniting with family, cuddling with husband and Yogini (kitty) by the warm fire, skiing powder runs, eating chocolate, standing in bright sunshine, seeing my clients again. The list of cravings went on and on. How difficult it is to be in the present unknown moment arising, passing, and to be stretched and pulled by the inner and outer world without trying to control or manipulate what's going on and simply relax into the experience without any kind of judgment. To obtain such freedom is in line with my North Star--unshakable compassion. After this retreat, I'm even more convinced that body is the holy gateway, the framework for everything coming into expression and passing away. How do we chose to respond?