peacock feathers and new life

last night I experienced again the sense of awe
of how little things can come together
that are inexplainable
all I can do in those moments
is tell the story and
be filled with wonder

2 weeks ago I went to visit a friend
after I left she called
she said 'where your vehicle was parked, was a peacock feather...did you lose it from your car?'
I thought that was strange.
I didn't have a peacock feather in my car and when I had parked and I hadn't noticed anything on the road.
So, I decided to google peacock feathers and see if they carried symbolic meaning
And I found that they have been known to be a symbol of resurrection.

Well this was pretty amazing as the friend I had visited had just lost a precious loved one.
So, it seemed that this precious feather was a possible sign of hope for her - but also for me.
Resurrection means new life, a new beginning from something that has died.
So, in these past two weeks I have had those thoughts in the back of my mind.
Last night, a friend gave me a beautiful gift of a blanket for my birthday, and as some of us were looking at it, I noticed that there were peacocks as part of the image on the blanket.  I mentioned how I had just learned the significance of peacocks and how I now was glad to have a beautiful blanket to help me remember.  One of the friends looking at the blanket stopped and looked at me and said - oh wow, wait til you open the gift I have brought for you.
and it turns out when she had shopped for a gift, all she was drawn to at the store was peacocks.  And so she bought me three things that were all symbolic of peacocks.
Yesterday was a day in my life - but it was also a day of resurrection, a day of new beginnings.
A birthday can be just a 'day', but it can hold an opening of a new chapter as well.
When events such as these come on a pile, I know that I can ignore the gift - or I can celebrate it - and say thank you!
THANK YOU for reminding me of new life
THANK YOU for inspiring me for new beginnings
THANK YOU for showing me there is abundance of resources and possibilities
THANK YOU that beyond loss, resurrection happens
THANK YOU for LIFE

June 29, 2012

45!!!

June 29, 2012

Today I am grateful

for life

for breath

for 2nd chances

for beauty

for forgiveness

for mercy

for friendship

for safe places

for kind hearts

for new songs

for joy

for dancing

for love

for laughter

for daughters

for family

for every lesson learned

for mentors

for inspiration

for the forest

for the river

for music

for children

for new life every day

for new beginnings

for the opportunity to be broken

and know my humanity

and to know the wonder

of grace

for community

for all that awaits me as I enter the rest of my life.

Thank you for being a part of my story.

Cathy

Dancing into Joy

photo by www.rastudio.ca

Dancing into Joy

This week held the wild extremes of life

Celebration of life and love, music & friends

Desolation and grief over another unexpected death of a young 16year old

daughter of my close friend

Grief came close to my heart again

Walking into the home of fresh loss

is vulnerable

and tender

Ripping my own heart open again

with reminders of my personal losses

bringing me to a place of fatigue

and frailty

And then...

someone comes with a gift of dancing music

flamenco style

we listen in the car in my driveway

but then the music takes hold me

grabs my heart and 

leads me onto the dance floor of my driveway

I throw my self into the dance of life

the undercurrent of joy that still is at the root of my being

My body celebrates a knowing that is deeper

than any human circumstance

My heart experiences the wonder of transcendence

a place beyond my thinking

a place where all is well

and all will be well

And I dance

And dance

And the dance carries me

and reminds me of how to live

how to be present

how to carry on in the coming moments and days and weeks and months and years

always being rooted in the well-spring of joy

always yielding to what is beyond my human understanding

always saying YES

to MORE

I will dance

I will sing

I will live