This Life

There are quite a few of my friends who over the years have suggested to me that I write a book about my life and the amazing journey it has taken me on throughout the 55.5 years I have spent here in this present life. I will admit there have been times I have thought such an endeavor might be a possibility. I have been keeping journals since I was very young, all of which are in tubs, stored in our garage.

Yet, as I have come to realize of late, none of my 'story' really matters. At least not to anyone except myself. The reason for this being...it is my story, and story is not important. What lies in the past is truly past. Gone, like dust in the wind...chaff blown away from the grain...it does not exist anymore. The only thing that exists is who I am, this soul here for the time being, housed in a physical body, and the understanding that I have come here, I believe, to learn who I really am, to see the connectedness I have with the One, and with everything that exists. I am here to BE. That is all that matters.

The 'story' of my life is a series of events designed to allow an experience to unfold as I step into it, walk through it, and look back upon it having grown in knowledge and understanding. It was all created so that one day there would be this awakening within me to know the One and to know that I am One with the One. To know that all which exists is only the Beloved.

I do not look back upon any of the happenings of this life with regret or with any sense of having failed, for my responses to situations, my ability to learn the lesson, or just feel the feelings, were just what they were in that moment. I came here to learn, to grow, to let go of all that does not serve my highest good. I came here to experience everything that could be experienced in a human life. And when all is said and done, someday I will leave this body and return to my natural form of Spirit/Energy, where the veil is lifted and all wisdom is complete.

The journey has taken me through the study of many religions, and yet there has never been a time where I was really comfortable in following just one way. Like many rivers headed to the ocean are the religions of the world headed toward the Ground of Being, that which is higher than we, that which is so vast and without end that it cannot be named or put into a box. I have traveled quite a few of those rivers, and finally came to a place where I am most comfortable in the space of allowing that Spirit to be in me, all around me and flowing out of me. I see the connectedness of everything and everyone.

So, shall I let you in on one secret? I see and feel the divine in and around everything. No matter where I go, there is Divinity all around. The sky, the earth, the north, the south, the east, the west and all the guides, ascended ones, angels, archangels and divinities are there communicating with me as I need it. The plants, trees, rocks and waters emit the voice of the Beloved. Animals, birds, fish all have wisdom to share but for the asking. Voices from beyond the veil come as loved ones who have already made their transition from this life back to Source.

In dream states, in waking dreams answers come to questions I haven't even formed yet.

Ahhh, this is my life here. Surrounded by this Love, this Peace, this knowing that all is exectly as it needs to be for the experience, the journey. To experience everything in it's fullest in every moment, without judgments, without being attached to any outcomes...that is my heaven here. This is bliss. TO BE free to BE ME.

So, this life continues...getting more and more exciting and glory filled as the moments come and go.

This Spring our Wisteria Vine, which provides much needed shade for our back porch, actually bloomed. It was so exciting!

The Iris which Susan W. gave me also bloomed, which ws surprising after they had sat in a tub for a few weeks (the weeks we went back to MN for Gram's and Aunt Velda's Memorials).

When I was a little girl gowing up in the Hill Country of Austin, Texas these flowers grew wild. We called them Indian Blankets, and they reminded me of my Great-Great Grandmother who was full blood Cherokee.

The Clematis has grown through the fence on the south side of the house.

The Bottle Tree

Here is the bottle tree, with English Ivy, Butterfly Bush, Day Lillies, Columbine, and Hollyhocks around it.

Here is our trumpet vine, buttercups, salvia

I love gardening!

My home

Well...Spring is quickly coming to a close here in the High Desert of Arizona. We have had a rather cool Spring, with the night temps down in the 30's and 40's, daytime highs in the 70's and 80's. Wish it could stay this way up until the Monsoons...which is really just the rainy season here.

The birds are chirping all day long now...our tile roof is a virtual birdhouse to lots and lots of sparrows and finches. There are doves, bluebirds (a huge one was on our back porch yesterday, close enough for me to see his beautiful coloring...and a sign that Aunt Velda is watching over us from the eternal side of life), and even a parakeet has been hanging around. They love the grapevine, and are keeping an ever watchful eye for the grapes to appear. Ebony (our Chowolf) thinks it is her job to run down the stairs and under the gazebo as fast as she can to let the birds know that she is in charge and that they must leave when she is in residence. It is very funny.

The backyard is blooming beautifully with all the plants from last year, plus a few new ones. It is such a peaceful place to have one's coffee in the morning, or an iced tea in the afternoon. Our oasis in the desert.

Many of you have asked how we an stand the heat of Arizona, and I will once again explain that we live at about 5500 ft above sea level. All around us we see mountains. Mingus Mountain to the East, Granite Mountain to the West, the Bradshaws to the South, and way in the distance to the North we have the San Francisco Peaks (which are up Flagstaff way). We are 15 minutes away from being in the tall pine forests which surround Prescott. The temps are about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Phoenix. It is very dry here, and we do have to water a lot to keep plants outside happy, but it is nothing like the horrendous heat of the Valley.

I am posting some photos of our yard, which has only now really greened up and by the end of summer into the fall, will transform itself once again into a serene and peaceful contemplative place. It is a place where one can see all the stars twinkling in the night sky, a place for ceremony, drumming and dancing. It is a place blessed with angels, spirit guides and visits from the ancestors.

May the summer days bring many blessings to all, and as we travel this spiritual journey together, may our connectedness bring health and wholeness to us all.