The Watercourse Way and A Peace Of ...

This photo is an "oldie" from 1990, back when my harp partner Deb Knodel and I traipsed over to Cape Arago on the Oregon coast, and propped our harps in this lovely location. This photo contains the essence, for me, of my relationship with Reiki.

This is a big day for us Americans, as we 'cast our votes' for our hopes and dreams for a certain quality of future. In my own life, I feel like I'm in the process of 'election' as well. How will I begin to express myself in this new place that is our home? Will this place be one where we root and deepen for years to come, or will it be a stepping stone -- a place to gather our energies, enjoy and grow within a very different lifestyle, terrain, nature, and community for a time -- before moving along ... elsewhere.

In the end, it doesn't really matter what we elect, but how we are in each moment. I elect to be here, now.

Our small city library contains some amazing gems. One I'm currently reading is a translation Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching with commentary by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (called Change Your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living The Wisdom Of The Tao).

The 43rd Verse goes like this:

The softest of all things
overrides the hardest of all things.
That without substance enters where there is no space.
Hence I know the value of nonaction
.
Teaching without words,
performing without actions--
few in the world can grasp it--
that is the master's way.
Rare indeed are those
who obtain the bounty of this world.

In his commentary entitled, "Living Softly", Dr. Dyer goes on to describe 'the watercourse way' is to live in this way -- to emulate water, how it flows, how water is capable of overriding hardness, carving through stone with its patient, quiet, moving way. Anyway, I take those words to heart today, and consider the way of water, how in my own life that times are far more joyful, harmonious, satisfying when I am merely in my nature, moving easefully when the way opens, eddying in place when it seems shut, playing with that leaf spinning in my current and discovering the whole world in that leaf, until a way opens or reveals itself or falls away, and then onward!
Since the Watercourse Way is about peace, I'd like to segue to the art show entitled A Peace of ... Vashon. It is co-curated by Kara and Hawk Jones, as part of their on-line art project and gallery showing (open to contributions by any and all artists!), A Peace of .... The physical showing at Cafe Luna, on Vashon Island in Washington (our former habitat) opens this Friday and lasts all month. I've contributed this "peace of" for the show.

Sanctuary Origami
Size/description of piece:
8" x 8", watercolor/beeswax crayon/colored pencil/pen


Several years ago, I had a dream about a God's eye/Grandmother's eye pattern called Sanctuary Origami. The pattern sprang out of my hand like a healing symbol and transposed itself on the island of Vashon. The concept of "Sanctuary Origami" is as follows:

"The universe is like a lovingly crafted piece of origami. For those who are awake enough to celebrate her, she reveals her intricate patterns, carefully and beautifully aligned, fold upon fold upon fold. The work is pristine, and she is alive.

Each of us is one of those beautiful spaces within the patterned universe. Each of us is a creator of the origami that is our life. When we create and live our lives from a place of compassion, playfulness, grace, and spirit, that space we inhabit in all of Being becomes a blessing place, a sanctuary. I invite you all to view your lives, what you create in them, as Sanctuary Origami: intricate, joyful, continually unfolding, abounding with treasures waiting to be drawn forth and shared. When we witness the dance of each others' Dreaming and Being, the patterns deepen and express themselves more fully in everyone's reality."

In the dream, Vashon Island became an expression of Sanctuary Origami, its blessing full-spirit energy unfolding and expanding throughout the world and universe, changing it and deepening it -- A Peace Of Vashon, indeed!