Tending the Future . . .

There are ways to live an ethical, moral, connected, compassionate life among the turmoil and suffering without becoming overwhelmed or disconnected.

In well cultures, our spiritual and cultural practices support us in this. They help us navigate, together, through suffering. Not around it.

Mainstream American culture is not well. You know this. Therefore, we can accept that our mainstream cultural practices will not support us in navigating the turmoil and suffering together and in compassion. Quite the opposite, our mainstream practices allow for greater disconnection at very critical conflict, no matter how larger or small. Personal or social.

Living a nurtured life is about making an effort to pour our energy and attention into and onto that which we want to grow. It also involves turning away from that which grows harm, disconnection, and suffering.

Our everyday choices feed or starve the future world. It is an awesome responsibility and, it should comfort us. We have the power to change, and to change the future.

ATLAS provides us with some of the tools we need to make navigating that path of nurturing life into the future. As future-tenders there are practices we can use to support ourselves and change the culture around us.

Which way should I go?

What action is best?

This guidebook helps us answer those questions and develop easier and quicker ways to navigate whatever conflicts and dilemmas arise- in a way that nurtures the future and protects our hearts.

Join us to read the guidebook and join the practices now through December.

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How Autumn teaches us about presence and being in the moment:

To be truly present in the current moment requires our engagement with the past and future. Autumn offers us this lesson, year over year.

Autumn reminds us that the work (or play) we do today is a reference to the experience of Summer. What grew abundantly, what has ripened, what is ready for harvest? What did not produce fruit?

These questions require our engagement if we are truly to be present with the moment that is Autumn. What shall we put up for Winter? Will there be enough to sustain us through the cold?

If we do not engage these questions, we are not living in the moment at all. Rather, we are bypassing the moment and what is required for our deeper sense of belonging and wellbeing.

The ability to enjoy the present moment at the expense of the past and future is not a skill, rather it is a maladaptive behavior. Being alive, responsive, and engaged presence requires the ability to hold the present moment in context. To be here now, means to be everywhere while in this pointed moment.

Autumn reminds us of this every year, in vibrant celebration of the moment, while bridging the space between Summer’s growth and Winter’s rest. A rest, that cannot be restful at all without the consciousness of Autumn. Earth prepares for Spring by being in the moment seasons before the first seeds burst forth.

In Autumn we can practice embodying all time and space, hard work, deep connection, responsibility, the letting go and holding on, the mourning and the opulent celebration.

Figure it out

Change. Change. Change. Here we go rolling into Autumn and things are changing for me. Change can feel fun when we think we know where it will lead. And scary when the path ahead is obscured.

These monarchs keep doing it, so I have faith we can too. And faith we have doesn’t mean faith it will “work out”. Trust is not about particular outcomes. These monarchs dissolve themselves inside their chrysalis- but first they shed their skin. Have you ever watched? It’s very hard work. Labor.

Then they rebuild their bodies from goo. And wait. On the day they unfurl their wings, it’s dangerous. So much can go wrong. And, once they are strong and secure in their butterfly-ness, many of them must make arduous journeys. All part of the risk of being alive.

Our choice is to take the risk or waste our chance. But, the risk of being alive can be tended gently to cause us (and others) the least suffering. Monarchs choose the location of their chrysalis carefully.

In honor of them, and me, and all of us making changes - I’m going to be offering single-session “figure-it-out” coaching on Tuesday afternoons in September. These sessions are to address any hindrance you have around specific issues: getting the dishes done, talking to your boss about that thing, choosing between two job opportunities, deciding which step to take forward.

We can get a lot done in a single session. And, my hope is if we clear space by figuring out some of these single issue concerns, we will have more space and clearer paths as we “figure out” and figure through the bigger issues we face.

*these sessions are cost and energy effective because there is no support or follow up from me between sessions. $45 to remove obstacles and clear your path (message me to discuss options if this doesn’t work for you)

https://www.thenurturedlife.org/scheduling

Writing . . .

I’m writing you to say . . . I’m writing. I am writing a lot. I am writing for school. For SOUNDheart, in my journals, in my head. I am writing letters. I am writing requests. So much written communication. And in all that writing I find less time and energy to write for social media or send out emails to my mailing list. I miss the opportunity to send out invitations, or share news.

I am not one to change without contemplation, or to act without reason- so I’ve been thinking about this. Why do I write? Why do I share it? Who is it for?

I write because I must. Call it a gift or a disorder, but writing is a form of articulation and communication and if I do not do it, I have a backup in my brain and body. Writing lets me “info dump” in a soothing way. And once I’ve organized and shared my thoughts in writing, my brain and body and heart are more free to be present. When I do not write I am often distracted by the whirling amount of connections being made in my head. Once written down, my body calms down, and my brain too.

I share my writing because I like sharing. I love connection. And over the years I’ve received feedback that the writing I share has been helpful to others. I also love being helpful. It’s part of who I am. So writing is sharing who I am, sharing myself.

Who is it for? It’s for all of us. I identify most with writers who wrote for the future. The ones we pick up now who wrote words decades ago for us to find when we needed them today. And, I know how valuable a security words can be. Words and writing can be a comfort and direction as we move into an unknown future. I write and share for those of us who are looking to find our way to a more peaceful future, me and you.

All this contemplation has led me to decide on a new practice. I’m going to be sharing my writing about all things (food, collective wellbeing, integrative wellness and Love) here in my journal again. I think that one of the barriers to sharing those invitations and emails and even social media shares is that it’s just too cumbersome to “post” to so many places after all the writing is done. I’m going to share here because it’s accessible to me. And it’s more accessible to forward and share from here as well. Anyone can find my words easily, and I can send out a journal post as an email or link. I won’t share all journal posts to email, but every now and then - at least once a month, I will. Because connection. Sharing is a bid for connection, and connection is something we all desperately need. It’s so human of us.

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