I have attempted a comment a time or two but technology and I don’t always get along. Let’s try again….
Thank you for showing up here uncensored and full of beauty and wisdom. My heart resonates with your words, even (and maybe especially) the challenging ones. And thank you for showing up in the censored space, too. It’s a shit storm on there most days but your posts are the calm and reprieve from the storm. Sending vibes of deep gratitude your way today. I hope you feel them. ❤️
Thank you, Meg. I do feel them and it means something. I am grateful to have my words accepted, uncensored, by such open hearts and minds. It is a profound gift in my life. Thank you.
You echo my sentiments perfectly. Joyful to have found you and the community you are striving to build. Honestly, it is rough going these days; we appear to be living in a Nonsense World. I am often times struggling not be overwhelmed and depressed with humanity in general. Thank you for sharing and expressing yourself so eloquently. You are a sparkling light in the darkness!
Thank you, Leslie, for such kind words. I think we all struggle. I think there would be something wrong with us if we didn't. I don't want to pretend this "nonsense" (as you so rightly said) is normal. I do believe, that the struggle to persevere and find deeper truths is ultimately a boon for those wading in sometimes painful waters. What's the alternative? Thinking this is all okay while we live in diversion after diversion, addiction after addiction, to numb ourselves? No thanks. So glad you're here. 🙂💕
Heavenly joy. It always comes as a sad surprise when your writing ends. Because, I would be perfectly happy to perch up and read 1000+ pages of your well experienced life and useful offerings. Thank you for saying and sharing Tara!
I get that. But I think it's another hiccup in not being able to just be present. And what a challenge that is when we feel awful! Who wants to just be fully present in their body when it aches or feels otherwise miserable. And yet, I think that's what we're called to do. To be fully present and still be able to find some peace and beauty and gratitude. Even gratitude for a body that sends us messages that hurt. It's still trying to tell us something. It is still our ally, truly our greatest one. It doesn't mean we stop looking for healing, just that we find that place where we can while still fully inhabiting the now. ❤️
As we all sit here experiencing your words on our digital devices, looking at the screen we are reminded to slow down and harmonize. I love the line, “The equating of harmony with ease.” Ease has been something my partner and I have been discerning in our lives. Harmony is what I want to achieve and it doesn’t mean the road to it will be smooth, that the weather will be pleasant, or that the trip will be quick. Harmony is only something we feel inside and that intuitive experience you have just written about, like with the nuts for example, is what the experience of harmony is like. Thank you again for sharing your words! Also, it is possible to “harmonize” with digital technology and that road often begins with attachment. Sometimes we must attach to detach, otherwise how will we ever know that we are gripping in the first place 🙏🏾.
Love your thoughts on this, Tracie. It's also something my husband and I came to learn together as well. It was not something anyone ever told us and not something that we saw in the people around us. I think we are all told that "harmony" and "balance" bring comforts and ease. We haven't found that. In fact, I think that often leaves a lot of us thinking there is something wrong in a situation when there is hardship or obstacles. But nature isn't like that. Nature is chaos and disruption and order and pattern and all of it in harmony. It's so much more empowering and liberating to understand harmony in the same light. ❤️
Yes, indeed! Our bodies are SO MUCH MORE than machines...a beautiful, sonorous "symphony orchestra," in my way of seeing them. An amazing and bountiful arrangement of "instruments" or more accurately, energies.
Sometimes the "horn section" is a bit too loud; other times, it's those dang "kettle drums" that are driving me crazy! How to tone it all down or balance it, so it's all being played in "harmony," as you talked about? All of the "instruments" (energies, processes, etc.) working/playing together, coming in at the right moment and then receding again. Everything connected, playing its part well, important and necessary...all contributing their part to the harmonious WHOLE that I call "me."
And when there's dis-harmony or discord, all manner of issues crop up...pain, dis-ease, addictions, efforts to distract myself from what I know to be true or the reason(s) for the problem. I often seek answers outside, in those rings and other gadgets, and in infinite other high-tech "solutions."
I just really need to go within and ask questions of myself. Simple, but not necessarily easy.
There's a "rightness" there inside (as with the garden in your post), when it's all running well, and if I pay attention, maintain connection with that which is real and true and good and life-affirming, I can feel it. The more I stray from that ideal state of being, connecting, paying attention and honoring the "music" (that within me and that in my environment), the more out-of-tune and discordant I and my life become.
I think we all have that deep wisdom somewhere inside of us, that tells us when we are IN tune and flowing and connected!
My wish for the new year, for you, your family and readers (and everyone, I suppose), is that we get quiet and present enough to feel the connection(s) we have humming along inside of us, and those that we share with all of life, and that we may pay attention and honor what we hear.
( I do not post much online anywhere, so I am not really "up on the etiquette of things"...apologies if posting a link is verboten in any way...but this video on the opposite of addiction really struck me as being somehow relevant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A39KsStFODY )
HALLELUJAH! Beautiful, Steve, just truly beautiful. I love every word. And thank you for sharing this video. If it's a faux pas to do this, I have no idea and I don't much care. I hope everyone takes the three minutes to watch it. Rat park. That's what it is. This is a message that people, especially young people, need to heart. We are a culture of disconnected people, thinking they are flawed or broken for not feeling that they belong when it's the twisted culture that holds no real place for us. ❤️
I totally agree that "especially young people" need to hear about connection (and community and the possibility of an inter-connected society). Independence can be great, but the concept of INTER-dependence warrants some research and thought and effort - speaking in terms of an ideal to strive for, in a family, business, community, etc. Connection, value, warmth, satisfaction, joy and love come from that place and those efforts.
I am fortunate to have grown up in a different era. Neighborliness, to choose but one characteristic, was the norm. Today's (ANTI!) social media is anything but social! I heard in a video today, that 60% of Americans said (in a survey) that they have no meaningful relationships at all. "Marrying ourselves" to tech gadgets (especially if they replace normal, human interactions to any great degree), just exacerbates that isolation & loneliness.
When we commune with others (including the natural world), we end up finding ourselves, and often finding out that "the others" are not really others, but they are us also, just disguised in a different "costume."
I find myself in such a strange and unknown land. I have slowed down much, with much more to go. I can hear my body speak before it screams, but have yet to catch a whisper. And still I find tension, when my body speaks, I still have to convince myself to listen, to act, to adjust. I hope that with practice, that muscle will strengthen, and when my body speaks I lovingly respond without needing any internal coaxing.
There are still vestiges of “needing to understand” or “needing it to make sense.” But, like your nuts and old injury, I am learning to let those needs go to honor and care for the deeper needs, the ones that matter more to my health of body and of spirit.
It really is a practice that needs consistent attention, a harrowing of the garden, if you will. It took my years just to get to where I am today which is still, truly an infantile level. That we even know, even have the intention, to expand is met with an unfolding more beautiful than we can imagine. 💕
Just deleted my Instagram account... what an obstacle course that was... making it ever more revitalizing. Have you heard James Tunney speak on the mechanizing of the human body and mind? Worth a search. Thank you for sharing your eloquence.
Spot on. I am creeped out by rings and watches etc. etc, but this is the first time I have seen why. Great insights. Thank you - and thank you for the "learn more" sources at the end. Love it!
Oh, good to hear, thank you Janene. I thought I might try adding those sources as I go, including books I've read that might have something to do with the topic. I still need to write out some bigger book lists, too, I know. :)
Speak on Dear Tara! For generations to come will hopefully read your heart through these words. Thank you for your words. Thank you for connecting us all in this way.
I have experienced the same as your daughter as an unvaccinated teacher…it is difficult for me to have this appreciation for my body and how it supports me if I give it what it needs and shield it as much as possible from my synthetic environment, while seeing coworkers hysterical with misplaced fear over covid while eating typical American diets and relying on medical intervention to prolong their lives. They hobble down the hallways and laugh at me when I teach outside, skip potlucks and go earthing in the grass at recess. Covid was a mild two day cold for me by the way, without a thing but a netti-pot and sea salt wash, bone broth and epsom salt baths! Plenty of sunshine and walking in the grass too! Easy as pie!
Thank you, Tara, for masterfully putting into words things I don't have the vocabulary to express. Often times your writing gives me hope and helps me feel like I have some sort of loose, mystic, intuitive map to navigate this life, it's a strange time to be in your 20's! Sending much appreciate from my cabin in the Redwoods.
A cabin in the Redwoods sounds like a pretty hopeful place to be. It makes me happy to think what I share brings you some hope. Sometimes I start writing feeling pretty hopeless and am quite grateful when the hope finds me, too. ❤️
You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. CS Lewis
Well, leave it to CS Lewis, to so succinctly and beautifully explain it all. ❤️
I have attempted a comment a time or two but technology and I don’t always get along. Let’s try again….
Thank you for showing up here uncensored and full of beauty and wisdom. My heart resonates with your words, even (and maybe especially) the challenging ones. And thank you for showing up in the censored space, too. It’s a shit storm on there most days but your posts are the calm and reprieve from the storm. Sending vibes of deep gratitude your way today. I hope you feel them. ❤️
Thank you, Meg. I do feel them and it means something. I am grateful to have my words accepted, uncensored, by such open hearts and minds. It is a profound gift in my life. Thank you.
You echo my sentiments perfectly. Joyful to have found you and the community you are striving to build. Honestly, it is rough going these days; we appear to be living in a Nonsense World. I am often times struggling not be overwhelmed and depressed with humanity in general. Thank you for sharing and expressing yourself so eloquently. You are a sparkling light in the darkness!
Thank you, Leslie, for such kind words. I think we all struggle. I think there would be something wrong with us if we didn't. I don't want to pretend this "nonsense" (as you so rightly said) is normal. I do believe, that the struggle to persevere and find deeper truths is ultimately a boon for those wading in sometimes painful waters. What's the alternative? Thinking this is all okay while we live in diversion after diversion, addiction after addiction, to numb ourselves? No thanks. So glad you're here. 🙂💕
Heavenly joy. It always comes as a sad surprise when your writing ends. Because, I would be perfectly happy to perch up and read 1000+ pages of your well experienced life and useful offerings. Thank you for saying and sharing Tara!
Thank you so much, Sasha ❤️❤️
“Chasing Healing”… feels like I’ve been doing that or trying not to do that my whole life. It’s exhausting. Thank you for this today❤️
I get that. But I think it's another hiccup in not being able to just be present. And what a challenge that is when we feel awful! Who wants to just be fully present in their body when it aches or feels otherwise miserable. And yet, I think that's what we're called to do. To be fully present and still be able to find some peace and beauty and gratitude. Even gratitude for a body that sends us messages that hurt. It's still trying to tell us something. It is still our ally, truly our greatest one. It doesn't mean we stop looking for healing, just that we find that place where we can while still fully inhabiting the now. ❤️
As we all sit here experiencing your words on our digital devices, looking at the screen we are reminded to slow down and harmonize. I love the line, “The equating of harmony with ease.” Ease has been something my partner and I have been discerning in our lives. Harmony is what I want to achieve and it doesn’t mean the road to it will be smooth, that the weather will be pleasant, or that the trip will be quick. Harmony is only something we feel inside and that intuitive experience you have just written about, like with the nuts for example, is what the experience of harmony is like. Thank you again for sharing your words! Also, it is possible to “harmonize” with digital technology and that road often begins with attachment. Sometimes we must attach to detach, otherwise how will we ever know that we are gripping in the first place 🙏🏾.
Love your thoughts on this, Tracie. It's also something my husband and I came to learn together as well. It was not something anyone ever told us and not something that we saw in the people around us. I think we are all told that "harmony" and "balance" bring comforts and ease. We haven't found that. In fact, I think that often leaves a lot of us thinking there is something wrong in a situation when there is hardship or obstacles. But nature isn't like that. Nature is chaos and disruption and order and pattern and all of it in harmony. It's so much more empowering and liberating to understand harmony in the same light. ❤️
Yes, indeed! Our bodies are SO MUCH MORE than machines...a beautiful, sonorous "symphony orchestra," in my way of seeing them. An amazing and bountiful arrangement of "instruments" or more accurately, energies.
Sometimes the "horn section" is a bit too loud; other times, it's those dang "kettle drums" that are driving me crazy! How to tone it all down or balance it, so it's all being played in "harmony," as you talked about? All of the "instruments" (energies, processes, etc.) working/playing together, coming in at the right moment and then receding again. Everything connected, playing its part well, important and necessary...all contributing their part to the harmonious WHOLE that I call "me."
And when there's dis-harmony or discord, all manner of issues crop up...pain, dis-ease, addictions, efforts to distract myself from what I know to be true or the reason(s) for the problem. I often seek answers outside, in those rings and other gadgets, and in infinite other high-tech "solutions."
I just really need to go within and ask questions of myself. Simple, but not necessarily easy.
There's a "rightness" there inside (as with the garden in your post), when it's all running well, and if I pay attention, maintain connection with that which is real and true and good and life-affirming, I can feel it. The more I stray from that ideal state of being, connecting, paying attention and honoring the "music" (that within me and that in my environment), the more out-of-tune and discordant I and my life become.
I think we all have that deep wisdom somewhere inside of us, that tells us when we are IN tune and flowing and connected!
My wish for the new year, for you, your family and readers (and everyone, I suppose), is that we get quiet and present enough to feel the connection(s) we have humming along inside of us, and those that we share with all of life, and that we may pay attention and honor what we hear.
( I do not post much online anywhere, so I am not really "up on the etiquette of things"...apologies if posting a link is verboten in any way...but this video on the opposite of addiction really struck me as being somehow relevant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A39KsStFODY )
Peace out...
HALLELUJAH! Beautiful, Steve, just truly beautiful. I love every word. And thank you for sharing this video. If it's a faux pas to do this, I have no idea and I don't much care. I hope everyone takes the three minutes to watch it. Rat park. That's what it is. This is a message that people, especially young people, need to heart. We are a culture of disconnected people, thinking they are flawed or broken for not feeling that they belong when it's the twisted culture that holds no real place for us. ❤️
Thanks so much, Tara!
I totally agree that "especially young people" need to hear about connection (and community and the possibility of an inter-connected society). Independence can be great, but the concept of INTER-dependence warrants some research and thought and effort - speaking in terms of an ideal to strive for, in a family, business, community, etc. Connection, value, warmth, satisfaction, joy and love come from that place and those efforts.
I am fortunate to have grown up in a different era. Neighborliness, to choose but one characteristic, was the norm. Today's (ANTI!) social media is anything but social! I heard in a video today, that 60% of Americans said (in a survey) that they have no meaningful relationships at all. "Marrying ourselves" to tech gadgets (especially if they replace normal, human interactions to any great degree), just exacerbates that isolation & loneliness.
When we commune with others (including the natural world), we end up finding ourselves, and often finding out that "the others" are not really others, but they are us also, just disguised in a different "costume."
Thank you. So much to think about after reading your words. And yes I was to do just that, listen to my body.
I find myself in such a strange and unknown land. I have slowed down much, with much more to go. I can hear my body speak before it screams, but have yet to catch a whisper. And still I find tension, when my body speaks, I still have to convince myself to listen, to act, to adjust. I hope that with practice, that muscle will strengthen, and when my body speaks I lovingly respond without needing any internal coaxing.
There are still vestiges of “needing to understand” or “needing it to make sense.” But, like your nuts and old injury, I am learning to let those needs go to honor and care for the deeper needs, the ones that matter more to my health of body and of spirit.
It really is a practice that needs consistent attention, a harrowing of the garden, if you will. It took my years just to get to where I am today which is still, truly an infantile level. That we even know, even have the intention, to expand is met with an unfolding more beautiful than we can imagine. 💕
I feel that unfolding in the future. I know in me that it can be on the horizon. It is moving towards that that helps me step after step 💚
This is what everyone needs to hear! Thank you for sharing your heart and your soul so eloquently!
Yes, learn to listen to the most incredible healer you have - your own body.
You have given words to so many of the lessons I strive to teach my patients. I look forward to sharing this with everyone. 💖
Thank you for being authentically human and whole, and for sharing what that is like with the world.
Thank you for such a beautiful, compliment, Jason. 💕💕
Just deleted my Instagram account... what an obstacle course that was... making it ever more revitalizing. Have you heard James Tunney speak on the mechanizing of the human body and mind? Worth a search. Thank you for sharing your eloquence.
I have not, but I will search it up. Thank you, Megan.
Spot on. I am creeped out by rings and watches etc. etc, but this is the first time I have seen why. Great insights. Thank you - and thank you for the "learn more" sources at the end. Love it!
Oh, good to hear, thank you Janene. I thought I might try adding those sources as I go, including books I've read that might have something to do with the topic. I still need to write out some bigger book lists, too, I know. :)
Speak on Dear Tara! For generations to come will hopefully read your heart through these words. Thank you for your words. Thank you for connecting us all in this way.
Do you have a sauna brand you are willing to share or recommend?
I have experienced the same as your daughter as an unvaccinated teacher…it is difficult for me to have this appreciation for my body and how it supports me if I give it what it needs and shield it as much as possible from my synthetic environment, while seeing coworkers hysterical with misplaced fear over covid while eating typical American diets and relying on medical intervention to prolong their lives. They hobble down the hallways and laugh at me when I teach outside, skip potlucks and go earthing in the grass at recess. Covid was a mild two day cold for me by the way, without a thing but a netti-pot and sea salt wash, bone broth and epsom salt baths! Plenty of sunshine and walking in the grass too! Easy as pie!
Thank you, Tara, for masterfully putting into words things I don't have the vocabulary to express. Often times your writing gives me hope and helps me feel like I have some sort of loose, mystic, intuitive map to navigate this life, it's a strange time to be in your 20's! Sending much appreciate from my cabin in the Redwoods.
A cabin in the Redwoods sounds like a pretty hopeful place to be. It makes me happy to think what I share brings you some hope. Sometimes I start writing feeling pretty hopeless and am quite grateful when the hope finds me, too. ❤️