I recently got my bike after a several month separation with it in Alabama and me in Louisiana. Last night I wanted to go a short distance up the street and decided to test it out. Unfortunately, the tires were low on air and I already knew the rear brakes were not functioning. After checking two gas stations with non-functioning air pumps, I was able to find a mechanic shop that was still open and the mechanic put air in the tires. After that, off down the (busy) street I went, mindful of relying on one set of brakes. Tonight I REALLY wanted to get a ride in and decided to take a meandering path through the neighborhood and to wherever the streets led me. It felt good to be back on the bike in 12th gear cruising around, feeling the slight wind I created as I pedaled. It was even scentsational as I smelled something nice that I could not identify – bonus. One hour later, I’m at home, showered and ready to go to sleep. Below, a supermodel shot of the bike in Saint Louis at the park…
Author: pfspirit
Fresh Old Stuff
One day I was searching for something on my computer when, lo and behold, I stumbled across a document that I created when I was closing my MySpace account. The document is a copy of all the blogs I posted on MySpace from 2005 to 2008. On one hand, it’s interesting to see the consistency of my thoughts over the years reflected through my writing. On the other hand, the posts remind me of the struggles that I went through during the time I lived in Saint Louis – and there were many. The time in Saint Louis was a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs that I tried to weather alone as best I could. Many of the posts refer to hopes for an improvement in my situation, others refer to my desire for a relationship and even others refer to my valiant attempts to find some degree of happiness in the midst of the monumental changes I was going through. Honestly, the latter posts were me trying to latch onto anything that would pull me from the spiral of depression that was ever present. Despite the heavy nature of many of the posts, there are lighthearted moments as well. Those usually involve my sojourns in nature or some random observation that I felt obliged to share. It’s a mixed bag of posts covering a three-year period in the life of moi.
Of course, I will post those as well. Stay tuned for some whimsical and wistful posts from the past…
* Special note: Employment plays a pivotal role during this three-year period. I went from being employed for almost five years with the same company, to moving out of state for a new job, to being laid-off from that job, to working a temporary assignment that went permanent, to resigning from that position, to working a temporary assignment again, to being offered a permanent position, to the permanent position (thus the permanent employment offer) being eliminated. After my last post began the stock-market dive and mass layoffs that signaled the beginning of the Economic Crisis of 2008.
I Just Wanna Be…
This is NOT the title to this particular song but because it is the repeating chorus throughout, you would automatically assume that to be the case. Leading up to the Womb Blessing and thinking of womanhood in general, this song popped in my head and I decided to go with it. The title of the song – Glory Box. This live version is performed by Portishead and Massive Attack. There is also a cover (which I just finally listened to) by John Martyn and it too sounds good. However, in my humble opinion, this is THE version…
May 25 Worldwide Womb Blessing
There will be a Womb Blessing attunement on May 25 at several different times (based on the time zone for the UK). Blessings are nice to receive (and to give), so I thought I would share this information for wom(b)en interested in receiving a healing blessing for their wombs. Miranda Gray, a healer, teacher and author is offering the attunement to those who register in advance. After I registered, I received an email that highlighted the potential for the blessing to help to: After registration, each registrant will receive an email with meditation instructions in order to prepare to receive the energy. In addition, men who would like to connect to the healing energy of this time can do a meditation to assist in clearing previous relationship issues. For couples, this is and can be a powerful time of synchronized healing.
1. Awaken, embrace and enjoy all four female sexual energies.
2. Return sex to passionate, loving, playful, and mystical sacredness.
3. Feel sexually confident and in love with your body and its cycles.
4. Heal the relationship with your mother and your feelings about motherhood.
5. Bring you closer to the Divine Mother and to open to her love and guidance in your life.
Maybe there is one area, more than one area or all areas that are of interest. May 25 is a day of womb healing and clearing for wom(b)en everywhere. I’ll be a part of the healing and here is the link to how you too can be a part of the healing as well:
The Fifth Sacred Thing
This is a book that I have read several times in addition to giving a copy to someone I thought would appreciate the book. In it, Starhawk, the author, describes a utopian approach to a dystopian future. I am guilty of presenting grim information (the Syria video) but smile when I think of how it could be, and better yet, read someone else’s words that have created a vision of how it could be. Now, I’m happy to see that the book is making progress to move from the page to the screen. I look forward to seeing the story I read and imagined on screen…
In the meantime, here’s a preview:
A beautiful day
Today was a beautiful day. So beautiful a day that I had to go out and be in it. Although I just walked from one indoors environment to another, I thoroughly enjoyed the distance spanning Point A and Point B. The weather was cool, sunny and windy with no humidity. The only thing that I could have asked for was my bike (and a partner in pedaling crime) so that I could have gone far and wide while enjoying the beauty of the day. Days like this in Saint Louis would put me in the best possible mood ever because I would also enjoy the scent of the blooming flowers, trees and bushes along my different routes. The bayou is definitely not the city. Sometimes I’m greeted with the smell of large-sized roadkill before actually seeing the decaying carcass in my direct path. I do recall a day earlier this week where I smelled a soft, sweet scent like honeysuckle that more than made up for the carcasses. Today, however, was an exceptionally windy day so I smelled neither carcass nor honeysuckle-ish vegetation. If there were a competition as to who felt better – me or a cat sunning in a window – I think the cat would lose… Ever so often, it’s nice to have an all-around good day. A day of well-being and contentment. Today is that day. Tomorrow the cat in the window may be the victor, however, I will enjoy the rest of my victory today.
Other song from the road
This is the other song from the road. Whenever I heard this, I would automatically go just a little faster…
Song from the Road
In March, I had several roadtrips of great distance and short timeframes. I generally don’t drive, thus I never really listen to the radio. As a result, I don’t always hear new music. These roadtrips changed that. One of my favorite songs from the road was The Lumineers’ “Ho Hey.” I had heard the song before but dismissed it because it sounded too hokey-country (growing up in Alabama insured that I tried to escape the country label at all times). Yet, at some time during night driving this song came on and it sucked me in. I later really listened to the words and it is the sweetest song ever!
Enjoy!
Cause for concern
Not long ago (less than 30 minutes ago), I saw video of an Israeli airstrike in Damascus. What is going on? Sometimes, I feel as if the US grew up with a volatile friend with a hair trigger and can’t quite find the best way to sever the relationship, while in the meantime, the friend is always ready for a fight because we’ve got his back…
Reiki: For those situations I can’t handle
Whenever situations arise that I have a hard time handling, there is Reiki. For me, Reiki is that activity that I SHOULD do but for some reason don’t. However little I practice on a daily basis it seems that it works for me when I am in the kind of dire straits where not much else helps. I decided that last night would be a Reiki night and climbed into bed early. Still, I didn’t immediately start Reiki. After I had fallen asleep, then awakened, I started Reiki on myself. I could feel tension easing as I moved from hand position to hand position. Generally, I do not sleep on my back (I am the ball you would see under the covers) but because of the Reiki positions, that was the position I slept in. And I slept like a baby. I slept so well that when I awakened, I didn’t feel groggy or anything. I just woke up – still on my back. Today I have attempted to stand back from the situation that brought me to this Reiki point without the usual worry that situations like these entail. Reiki is a hands-on (or hands-off/distance) healing method that channels energy flow to go where it is needed on a person’s physical, emotional and spiritual body. The practice was “discovered” by a Japanese Buddhist monk (among other things that he was/did). Mikao Usui, after having connected to the energy that is Reiki, then went on to teach the technique to others while also providing healing for people in the local area. For a better handle of the history, I would recommend that you read this or this. Or, of course you can Google it for more information as well. Reiki was introduced to me by a guy who was working as a military contractor in the Middle East and Africa. I was not spiritually inclined but listened to him describe to me an all over tingly feeling he would get while receiving a Reiki treatment. The description sounded too hocus-pocus to me, especially coming from him with his uber-macho job, so I declined his offer of having a treatment done until I could look into what this Reiki tingly feeling thing was that he spoke of. Months later, I went to the same place I took him so that I could tap into the tingly relaxed feeling he reported. At the time, I was extremely on edge and realized that I could use some intense spiritual relaxation. The practitioner, within moments, read me like the front page of a newspaper. She moved beyond my carefully crafted facade and spoke of the real me that churned beneath the surface of my facade. The me of the overactive mind that runs at breakneck speed at all times. She saw it despite the fact that we didn’t spend much time talking. I initially scheduled a short session with her which she said was too short to be effective and we agreed that I should return. Months later, I did return for an hour long session. If the first session revealed part of the real me, the second session revealed me in my entirety. It wasn’t just a one-way street though. During the treatment, I went off somewhere in a lucid dream. I saw a house in a very green field that was very familiar to me although I had never seen it before. I thought the house or place was in Ireland. This session took place in 2003 or 2004. However, while in Switzerland recently, I was shown a place that looked exactly like what I saw in my dreams – and it wasn’t Ireland. Furthermore, the person who showed me the picture was someone with whom I felt time stand still and stretch into infinity. It felt like a signpost. That one session keeps bearing fruit years later. As she wrapped up the session, she explained what she saw/sensed. Much of what she mentioned, at the time, made no sense whatsoever. Then I went to the doctor months later. Over time, based on different conversations with different doctors, everything she saw/sensed and told me about was explained by my doctors as they worked to treat a medical problem that I had. From that session, I became a believer. I went on to have surgery for the medical problem and had distance Reiki in advance for my surgery/hospital stay. Other than the amazingly bad reaction to my pain medication (intense itching that felt like it was in my being instead of on the surface of my skin), the surgery and recovery was a breeze. I was almost sashaying around the hospital ward before they released me. After I left the hospital, I only took one pain pill and that was because I was “supposed” to. After that one pill, I decided to wait for the pain to begin then take the pill. The pain never began… Since then I’ve gone on to have the Reiki attunements and learn about Reiki. I had experiences a few years back that had me practicing Reiki on myself daily and sometimes several times throughout the day. A side effect of that intense level of practice on myself is that I seemed to have opened myself to some unexpected “gifts”. I began to have dreams about people that I knew. The dreams felt different and when I asked questions (without revealing my dreams) it seemed that I was able to pick up what was going on in their lives. It is that side effect that is probably at the heart of my reluctance to practice on myself. I will continue to give myself treatments for a while to help me through this episode. Maybe the gifts will remain in their package…