We are bombarded by information, especially if we cruise the Internet, watch movies, TV, read books, magazines, yet we retain so very little of this information, which is probably a good thing. I suppose knowledge comes when we spend time and put forth the effort to learn something new, or master something, we come to know about it, to some greater degree than before. We retain information that captures our interest and we delve into it. We have knowledge about it. And wisdom, yes, that rich form of guidance that is etched deeply into our psyches and tells us what is right vs wrong, what is healthy and good for us and what isn't, helps to lead us on the path we choose, helps us to choose the path that is best for us...
It's interesting how one may come upon a word and decide to use that word in one's writing or dialog. Suddenly it seems that word is to be found everywhere. It just pops up like magic all the time, that is after you become aware of it. Yet, it was there all along, you simply didn't notice it. And so it goes with so many things. Awareness is an important word, an important state, a concept well worth pondering, contemplating. A word(s) that I've noticed to be so prevalent for many months now is moon. Or lunar. In Sun magazine I read an interview with Andrew Harvey. I saw his books in Whole Life Books, the feminine comes up a lot in his writings, Mother Nature, Goddess, and so on. Elizabeth Gilbert writes: "...but for millennia there have been others who choose instead to get up before the sun and wash their faces and go to their prayers. And then fiercely try to hold on to their devotional convictions throughout the lunacy of another day."
LUNACY of another day? A day of sun, a day without moon? A day with the feminine hidden? The complexity of the lunar cycle was explained (rather an attempted explanation) in a recent meditation session let by Abhi whereby he played a tape he had made that must have lasted 20 minutes or so about the moon, her cycles, blue moon, full moon, new moon, so many days, hours, minutes...it went on and on with an incredible amount of information. I retained so very little. Lunar breathing to cool down. Mary Keator said most of us, including most women, are far more in touch with our masculine aspects than with our feminine aspects. I find this endlessly fascinating, and often wonder how in touch am I with my feminine aspects vs my masculine aspects?
Pema Chodron wisely tells us to not take ourselves so seriously. To simply lighten up. Which allows me to free associate, similar to the year or so I spent writing my morning pages every day as Julia Cameron suggests in The Artists Way.
I can hear the TV in the other room and try to tune it out. My nephew---Ok, we've gone to the movies--yesterday we saw Wall E, which was really good, clothes shopping, ice cream parlor, swimming at Hamilton's Pool, dined out, hair cut, purchased books for summer reading...and I'm ready for my freedom again! My body is protesting the change in diet and other routines. Still, I'm having fun but will take my nephew home this weekend--tomorrow. It surprises me how easily he gets bored and how much TV he watches! I wish there were other kids around for him to play with, but he gets plenty of that at home, and at school...
