May 30

Tending My Own Garden

Categories:

Blogs

by

May 30, 2017

I love gardens; always have.  To me, there’s something so fundamental to my own core being … so breath-inducing …. so beautiful …. so alive.  I always feel closer to myself, closer to inspiration, closer to All, connected to All.

To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a structured English-style garden …. Hakone Gardens which is near where I grew up and is one of the oldest Japanese-style residential garden in the Western Hemisphere …. The Tuileries and Carrousel Gardens which is part of the Louvre in Paris …. Filoli Gardens, also near where I grew up …. my dad’s extensive vegetable, fruit, and flower garden …. fields of fresh growing produce which can be found across this amazing United States …. a personal garden in a backyard …. or even a bunch of pots with plants grouped together.

I could spend hours just enjoying the presence of the living vegetation as well as the other living beings such as dragonflies, butterflies, bees, etc. Even as I type this, thinking of gardens I’ve enjoyed, my psyche begins to get all energized and I feel uplifted.

I begin to take deeper, more fulfilling breaths.

Still, something was missing for me.
My parents always had amazing green thumbs; I did not inherit this; or hadn’t until ……

….. bing … a lightbulb went off.  I came to realize I had yet to experience creating and maintaining my own garden …. versus just enjoying others’ creations.

From this awareness, I realized there was a metaphor for me … meaning, “my garden” represented the relationship to myself. Am I, or to what degree am I, actively engaged in my own life?

Last fall, with some guidance from a neighbor who is my “garden muse,” I started planting in various places in my small front and back yards as well as in lots of pots.  I’ve found one of my most inspiring and insightful choices is to purchase plants from the clearance area at my local Lowe’s stores. It used to be that if the plant didn’t survive, I wouldn’t feel as bad that I wasted money.

This habit of purchasing the clearance plants now has a completely different lesson and insight for me.  I have found such reward and personal validation when a plant that was barely living is now thriving.

The more I develop the relationship with my plants, the more I develop the relationship with myself.  It starts in a simple, literal sense …  My connection/meditation time for the day includes going out daily to check on my plants, water them, move around the ones in pots which don’t seem to be doing so well in their current location. Often, I’m joined in my outside time by a bee who frequents the front yard, a dragonfly who is partial to the plants in the side yard, and most recently in the backyard, a new swallowtail butterfly which was fluttering all over one day showing me what it could do with its lovely wings.

As I connect with my plants and their insect friends, it reminds me to connect to myself …. “Am I watering myself (enough) daily?”  “What am I feeding myself?” “How am I doing in my current location?”  “Do I need more sunshine, more shade?” “Who am I connecting with, or not connecting with?” “Am I taking time for myself to just breathe?”  “Am I enjoying moments of just being?”

The other thing about having “my own garden” to enjoy versus watching or enjoying others’ gardens, is that my focus in life is now on ME.  I no longer look for someone to take care of my garden, nor am I off taking care of someone else’s garden.  I’ve found that …..

I am joyfully and gratefully responsible for creating and maintaining my own thriving garden.

P.S.. Both photos are from my garden.  In the top photo, the pink flower in the large pot in back is a “Guara.”  This winter all that showed of the plant was a bit of the woody stem; it wasn’t looking good. Some people may have even thrown it out.

 I heard to give it time, water, and love …. and voila, look how gorgeous it is!  This too has been my experience with myself.  When I accept myself as I am, and provide time, water, and love … I too have blossomed.  What a beautiful blossom I am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laurel Ley
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://trinityenergyprogression.com/tending-my-own-garden/

May 23

Seeing the Miracles in Disappointment

Categories:

Blogs

by

May 23, 2017

                          Rue in bloom.

Sometimes in life –  heck, a lot of times in life! – we get frustrated with the way things are going. We have it in our minds that life should be one way, and instead, life looks anything but that vision at our present moment in time. “What have I done wrong?” we wail at the Universe. “I’m a good person, why aren’t things working out like I expect them to?” If you’re like me, most of the times there is no answer. I’ll try to console myself with the sayings “Everything happens for reason,” and “Things happen in Divine timing,” but in truth I’m just frustrated and feeling forsaken and unloved.

I usually wind up turning the situation around, swallowing my disappointments and trying to ignore the hollowness and ache of unworthiness deep inside me until I can be grateful for what I do have. Typically, this involves a healthy dose of nature. Nothing turns my mood around faster than observing all of the miracles around me every day in the form of the plants, insects, and creatures roaming this Earth!

Those who know me know that I raise butterflies. It started out as a love for tabouli and a desire to make my own. I dutifully set out a few parsley plants and waited for them to grow. They did indeed grow. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed parsley! One day, I came out to find my parsley plants covered in caterpillars.  At first, I wasn’t too happy with this outcome. But, after doing some research, I determined that the caterpillars were those of the Black Swallowtail butterfly and I felt honored to provide them with a source of food. From that point on, I kept parsley plants for the butterflies so that they could leave their eggs and start the cycle anew each year.

Each summer I would eagerly await the arrival of my butterflies and their eggs.  I planted more plants they enjoyed such as rue, dill, and fennel in addition to the parsley, and filled my garden with rich nectar sources. When the baby caterpillars emerged, I would bring them inside and feed and care for them until they made their chrysalises. Those that emerged from the chrysalis during the season were released back into the world, and those that decided they wanted to wait until next year to see the world overwintered inside my house so as to protect them from predators and the cold weather.

This had been an annual cycle for me for several years until 2016.  I waited and waited all summer long in 2016, but no caterpillars appeared. To say I was crushed is putting it mildly.  I was heartbroken.  The fact that several other people I knew found caterpillars when they hadn’t ever had any before seemed like salt in the wound. As pleased as I was for them, I felt my own lack of caterpillars keenly. One person asked me to “adopt” some almost full grown caterpillars late in the season that then overwintered with me. It helped to ease the ache, nevertheless I was still very sad over not having any of my own to raise and care for.

Fast forward to now, Spring 2017.  In an unusual twist, I found five baby caterpillars on my rue recently. This is highly unusual since in years past I haven’t had caterpillars until the late summer. My heart was filled with joy! I hadn’t been forsaken after all!  It seemed the Universe did still want me to take care of and protect these tiny members of the natural world. Once I’d come down from my euphoric state, it occurred to me that there must have been a reason that I hadn’t had any caterpillars to raise in 2016. Almost as soon as I had formed that thought, the answer came to me. In 2016 I’d been helping a friend through a really tough time, one that required lots of nurturing and support in addition to all of my normal hectic daily routines. With that realization, my whole perspective changed. I’m still sad that I didn’t have my own caterpillars to raise that year, but I’m grateful that I was given the time to focus on nurturing someone else who greatly needed it. Plus, I was still provided with some of my little ones to adopt at a stage in their lives when they wouldn’t require much from me. Truly, it was the best way the whole situation could have unfolded, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.

As a result of this little life lesson, the next time something doesn’t turn out the way I had hoped, I plan to stop and take a moment to thank the Universe for whatever else is in store for me in the future that might not have happened if I had gotten whatever it was that I had been hoping for.  Because I’m sure that whatever it is will be just what is needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colby Hall
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://trinityenergyprogression.com/miracles-in-disappointment/

May 15

Spirituality in Trips to the Grocery Store

Categories:

Blogs

by

May 15, 2017

One of the many ways that my Trinity Energy Progression practice has helped me change is how I experience my trips to the grocery store. I use to view these trips as another errand that I didn’t particularly enjoy. First, there would be the crowded parking lot, the initial glimpse of the extra time (I didn’t have) that this errand would take.The next indication was the dearth of carts, with only wobbly-wheeled ones left for navigating the crowded aisles of the store. But the produce was so colorful that I would feel a renewed sense of joy, only to find the avocados were as hard as rock and the store was out of organic spinach as well as my favorite coconut milk, while having a bountiful assortment of “healthy sweets” (chocolate-covered everything) and lots of really salty “healthy snacks” as an alternative  for those with a sugar “addiction” like me. By the time I maneuvered around the store and made my way to the check-out line, I felt a combination of guilt, frustration, pride, and anticipation for what I had chosen to buy (or not buy) only to realize that I had left my “save the Earth” shopping bags in the car when I had finally found a parking place. Guilt completely overtook me as I knew I would not go back to my car to get them.

As I would approach the check-out lines, I would not be “feeling the love” for myself or for much of anything else while I was trying to quickly calculate which line would have the least wait time based on the number of people in line and the number of items in their carts, as well both the customers’ and cashiers’ commitment to take the check-out process “seriously.” And to determine who would do everything as quickly as humanly possible while I judged their success or lack thereof, especially when I more often than not chose the wrong/slowest line. Waiting in line was the most challenging part of the trip for me.

I was an undergraduate English major in college, so when I think about waiting, I often think about Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot.” It is a play about two men waiting to meet Godot, who never comes. It always makes me think about how much time we can spend waiting for the future, or waiting for things that never happen. On another level, the play is about how time is part of our humanness, and how to make time matter while recognizing its fleeting nature. It is also about the paradox of time and how we can change our perception of the passing of time – how time “flies”and feels “time-less” when we are enjoying ourselves, and seems to “stop in its tracks” when we aren’t. Time “stopped in its tracks” for me at the grocery store.

In one of Eckart Tolle’s YouTube videos “Waiting with Presence,” he talks about how the old state of consciousness is waiting for the next thing whereas the new state of consciousness is not really waiting, just being where you are and enjoying that. As I have come to understand in my Trinity practice, everything in the moment is just the way it is – perfect! I now see this stopping of time as often the result of the past and future “crowding out” the Now, whereas time “flying” and feeling “time-less” is the expansiveness of being in the NOW, fully being where you are in the moment.

The ongoing journey with my practice has changed my grocery shopping trips (among other things) into a journey in itself, as I gave up waiting as a state of mind. I now see waiting as an opportunity to be present, and think of waiting as a gift – the gift of time to be present and free of judgment. I also see waiting as a time to connect, not just within me as part of my own spiritual practice. In an interview with Ram Dass by Eliot Jay Rosen, he asked Ram Dass about doing your spiritual practice while waiting in line at the bank. Ram Dass replied:

“Exactly. But you’re not doing a spiritual practice that involves going away from waiting in line at the bank. What I used to do is wait in line and I’d do mantra or breathing. I’d go into my vipassana meditation. But now I’m interested in whether waiting in line at the bank can itself be the thing. I notice my impatience, notice the feeling in my feet as I am standing there, notice the different levels of reality of the people I’m looking at. Am I seeing a bank teller or am I seeing the Divine Mother as a bank teller? I allow myself to play with the moment more, still dealing with the stuff of the moment rather than going away.”

Going to the grocery store is no longer just a trip for me where I have to wait in line. I especially like Eckart Tolle’s suggested response to someone who apologizes about having kept them waiting: “That’s all right, I wasn’t waiting. I was just standing there enjoying myself – in joy in myself.” This is now my grocery store journey where I embrace the waiting without judgment, and experience love and gratitude for being connected in the moment, for this moment. I play with the moment. I rarely forget my “save the Earth” shopping bags, but when I do, I joyfully go back to my car for them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandi Newton
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner

Tags: , , , , , ,

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://trinityenergyprogression.com/spirituality-trips-grocery-store/

May 05

Through the Eyes of Love (True Love)

Categories:

Blogs

by

May 5, 2017

Have you ever considered who in your life really loves you? Who loves and appreciates you for exactly who you are, with NO conditions and NO strings attached? Can you think of anyone? Many of us can think of a few people who at least partially fit this description, and yet not fully. Most love is conditional and attachable. It can be fleeting and unpredictable. Conditional love isn’t true love….at least not in the divine sense. It’s not the Oneness-based, connected kind of love, and it’s usually attached to outcomes. The ego gets its footing by navigating and judging those outcomes. Unconditional love is not attached to outcomes or conditions. It does not judge; it simply IS. Have you ever experienced this kind of love?

I had an experience recently that helped me put the concept of love back into a divine perspective. It was through my beloved dog, Wags. Dogs have a way of loving unconditionally like no other beings can. Have you ever considered the magnitude of what they give? There are no strings attached. They love their owners no matter what, forever and ever. They smile at you, stare at you, and will do anything for you. Their purpose is to bring you happiness and joy and they will do it all the days of their life. My dog, Wags, was the perfect example. She was a social dog and loved people. She had a magical way of lifting people up and bringing smiles to their faces. She was beautiful inside and out, and she would do anything for our family; always holding the vibration of unconditional love.

Wags was a part of our family for 10+ years. She entered our lives at a vulnerable time and she was the perfect addition. We had been waiting to get a family dog and the time had come in 2006 in North Carolina. We had just moved from California and my oldest son was chronically ill. He had lost his zeal for life and could barely function.  He needed a devoted pal, so it was time to seek out our beloved pet. We found Wags at a pet adoption event. I walked into the store and it was love at first sight.  I knew she was the one and I could feel it all over! She was three years old and she was the most perfect dog in every way.  I didn’t see any flaws (even if she had some); I just saw love and beauty.

Wags became a therapy dog for my son, Michael. He needed to feel loved and important. Wags gave him an important job to do—he took her for walks, fed her, brushed her, and took her to bed at night. Wags was so happy to be the object of fondness and appreciation. She was a significant part of Michael’s healing process throughout the year. With each passing night she became more a part of us. We had some fun adventures! Over the years, Wags taught our family many things. To my youngest son, she taught him patience, gentleness, and kindness. He would often have an unpleasant mood swing because he didn’t understand his role in the world; he gave Wags some opportunities to be forgiving. She was really good at it! It was an ongoing learning experience for him—how to treat an animal with kindness and respect– and Wags volunteered happily to be the demo dog.

My husband had his special moments with Wags, too. He would come home from a very stressful day at work and Wags would greet him at the door. She would jump up on him with excitement and enthusiasm, tail wagging and smiles on her face. He appreciated the recognition that he was an important person. Many of his days were filled with exhaustion, confusion, and doubt and Wags was there for support. For myself, Wags was my special buddy, my heart’s companion.  I knew there was something really, really special about her. I took her for walks many a day and cuddled with her on the floor. A day didn’t go by where I didn’t say “Thank you Wags.” I had deep fondness and appreciation to her, for showing up in my family’s life.  That magical day at the pet store…. it was definitely FATE.  Wags and I had unspoken stares back and forth to each other. It was as if to say, “Hey, I know you!”   It was a telepathic connection of soul companions.  Well, one day it dawned on me.

We were in our new home in Fate, TX and Wags would come up to the kitchen several times a day, just to stare at me. There was a deep fondness in her stare. I would stare back. After many weeks of this, I suddenly realized who she was. “She has the soul of my childhood dog… Oh my gosh, she is Buttercup!!!”  Tears of gratitude ran down my face because I knew it in my heart of hearts it was her. My special dog from my youth, BUTTERCUP.  My soul companion, my best friend! She’d stood by my side through thick and thin: when I was heartbroken, when I was sad, when I was empty, when I was mad. Always there to comfort me and console me, even when I wanted to give up on life.  Always knew what I needed.  She helped me give voice to my feelings.  I lost her when she was 13yrs and my heart never quite healed. The longing for my dog continued and I often had dreams about her. My “new” dog, Wags, brought her back to me!  I was ELATED with excitement and joy.

I felt deep gratitude to Wags for months. It was her fate was to follow us to Fate, TX! She appeared to help me heal my past. She was to mirror the divine back to me….to show me that I was the Divine. I had to put her down – as Buttercup – due to kidney failure, and I never recovered.  The condition popped up suddenly and I didn’t want her to suffer. I was only 19 yrs. old and heartbroken. I paid her vet bills to try to save her and it was a lot of money for a college student, yet she was my best friend.  She didn’t recover, and the inevitable happened. A part of me was always missing and I carried the pain for years. It was the pain of GUILT, for not spending enough quality time with her in her final months.  I was a busy college student struggling to go to school full time and work to pay the bills.  There was just no time left for Buttercup. I did what I could and it never felt like enough. Slowly, Buttercup slipped away. I didn’t realize the magnitude until it was too late.  She was always there when I needed her most; however, I wasn’t there for her when she needed me (that’s how I perceived it), so I carried this guilt for decades. When Wags showed up and revealed herself as Buttercup, I knew she came here to help me heal. She loved me so much to do this! She reminded me that everything was OK. She helped me accept what I did. She showed me that I was the divine and everything was perfect. She imparted a beautiful message that I did a wonderful job as her owner. She’s a dog with so much unconditional love and resolve, as Buttercup and as Wags. She was a teacher and a healer. ?

Wags continued as a loyal companion.  An event happened recently that reminded me of how special she was! It’s the unimaginable day when your pet has puzzling symptoms that take you to the ER. She was out of sorts that weekend and progressively got worse. Her symptoms declined and turned into multiple seizures. It was scary (to the ego). We had to come to terms with the possibility that it might be her time. All sorts of feelings and memories came popping up and we had to deal with them. We were given an opportunity to share more love and gratitude to Wags…for ALL of the wonderful things she has done for us. We thanked her for always caring, always loving, always being by our side.  This was our moment to really share our hearts and to say all of the things we wanted to say over the years.  It was tough and it was necessary.  Fortunately, Wags wasn’t ready to go yet and she was showing us once again that she wouldn’t not leave our side. Through this whole ordeal, she taught us many things [there she went again, being a teacher and a healer ?].  Some of the lessons were individual and some were for the whole family.  We were motivated to do things differently. One of my personal lessons was to realize that I didn’t resolve my past guilt 100% – there was still a piece left. Time to let it go! I decided to spend quality time with my precious girl while we still had her. It felt good. Our family came together and we treated each other with more respect and courtesy, all to do with Wag’s care and treatments. We all had a voice equally and shared our feelings. We saw through Wags’ eyes of love and oneness.

Wags originally came to “save us” in a sense, by bringing love, joy, and healing to our family. In turn, we “saved” her when she was in crisis. Animals really do speak. They do feel and they do communicate! Dogs have a love so deep, a love so pure, a bond so tight. They will never leave your side until their purpose is fulfilled and they have taught you FULLY what they came here to teach.  That’s a dog’s purpose and unconditional love. ?

I am now finishing up this blog a few weeks after starting it. I put it on hold because many things changed, and I gave it time to settle. Wags taught us yet another lesson after all of that! She took a turn for the “worse” and her health declined, just two weeks after she was revived. I became concerned and took her back to the vet– he did more bloodwork and tests. I had a feeling this might be her end. She came to me in a dream and showed me 5 open doorways. She walked through each one of them to show me there was a message on the other side. She wanted me to follow her through each day — one doorway at a time. One doorway represented one day of the week. I knew I had to trust. There were no more doorways past Friday and I felt like the messages would be complete.  My gut feeling was that Wags wouldn’t be here after that and that Friday would be her last day… yet I didn’t want to believe it.

The messages she gave me were so perfect in every way.  One of them was to tell me to resolve all issues with her and deem them as complete — to do this together in a healing session (to which I did). Our time together was perfect in both lifetimes and we both did what we came here to do. Another message was given to me in the grocery store, LOL! A song came on radio and it said, “It feels so good to be home” over and over again. It was a sign that Wags was ready, confirmation.  She also told me to see everyone as she sees me….see everyone as the DIVINE. My love quotient went up 10,000 notches while in the store. A burst of love came over me and I recognized it was a gift from Wags.  It was to help me receive love and give love more freely. I had no words, I couldn’t speak. I felt SO much love for everyone in the store, no matter who they were. I looked around and just saw the DIVINE in each one. It was beautiful! A very deep, pure, authentic love, and SO deep. It was an out-of-this-world experience and it cut through many layers. Wow, it was powerful!

Yet another message came through that week and I couldn’t miss it! Wags came to me through a flying beetle.  It flew right at my head and landed in front of me, LOL!  The beetle message is resurrection and immortality.  It brings our attention to renewal, spiritual maturity, and the powerful influences of the invisible side of life.  Of course (SIGH) – there couldn’t be a more perfect message for me to prepare the way for Wags to cross over. Yes, it was her time to go home, and I finally accepted it. I can’t put words to it exactly and I had a deep knowing that all is complete.

I brought all of the messages together and they became complete as one. We had both reached our spiritual maturity and it was time for us continue on different planes. It’s no coincidence that Wags crossed over on Good Friday and we buried her the same day. She resurrected on Easter Sunday and we visited her grave. My family and I were there together and we felt endless love all around. I also felt resurrection energies…they came from Wags and from ALL of the pet/doggie souls. It was powerful and I heard the words, “It is finished.” It reminded me of the Christ. I felt a deep sense of freedom and lightness come over my body; we paid tribute to Wags and thanked her for all that she was/is.  She was showing herself from the powerful side of the invisible, through the eyes of love. We feel her presence continue with us in the house; she is always around us, never truly gone. It’s a powerful reminder to trust the invisible and to allow messages to enter our lives through the magical doorways – they’re all around us. We just need to open our eyes and open them up.  We experience the physical for just a short time.  We experience the non-physical for eternity. TRUST. Through the Eyes of Love. So long, beloved Wags.  You are home free and in my heart forever.! Home is where the heart is.  A love so pure, so complete, with no attachments. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.  Thank you for EVERYTHING! Shine on! Love you always my friend. ???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandy Anthony
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://trinityenergyprogression.com/eyes-love-true-love/

Apr 25

The Last Time

Categories:

Blogs

by

April 25, 2017

If I had known it would be the last time I would have ….
Held on longer and squeezed a little tighter
Been present to the moment and let go of the fighter
Looked deeply into your eyes to find the love that we had grown
Taken your hand and stopped time as we have known
Told you all the things that were left unsaid and spoken only from my heart
Listened more closely and tried harder to do my part
A relationship no more, life turns on a dime
But how could I have known that it would be the last time?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tammy Taylor
Trinity Energy Progression Facilitator/Practitioner

Tags: , , , , ,

Leave comment

Permanent link to this article: http://trinityenergyprogression.com/the-last-time/

Older posts «

» Newer posts

Close
loading...