Cerveza n lime

Last year I bought a plant called Cerveza n Lime.  If you brush your hands through it, it releases a wonderful lime fragrance.  It is one of my favorite plants. This summer it was out on the deck, so it dealt with more extreme issues of weather than it had over the winter on my dining room table.  Storms shook the leaves free. The sun and the heat did their work as well.  

On this plant, each stem holds many leaves.  As the leaves are bumped or blown off, there is a opening in the stem.  Maybe it is a bit of a plant wound, one could say.  At first, there was simply a small open area in the stem, but then something happened.  As that little openning closes, it produced another leaf.  Although this time, it isn't one leaf, rather about 6 in the shape of a small daisy-like flower. Every time a leaf fell off, an opening was created bringing a place for several new leaves in come into existence.

I was thinking how it seems to be in life.  We experience difficult weather conditions like sun and heat - things we did not expect: job loss, relationship rifts, deaths of those close. We can experience seasons of barrenness with places where we have been wounded seeming more plentiful than the green, lush areas.  Yet with time and intention, those wounded areas can be transformed into lush greenness.
  
This summer my plant had several nearly bare stems, but now is completely covered with little blossoms of leaves. It seems that in there some where is a picture of redemption. Healing can come to our our lives, producing far more gifts than had been there before we lost the leaves.      

4 cats, 2 dogs, a book and a gazebo

Maybe that is the next blog name or perhaps a movie...  That is how many are in the gazebo this afternoon. Mind you this is not abnormal at all. It seems as if, when I am home alone, I am never really alone and that is perfectly ok with me. There is a sacred rhythm that a cat's head nudge or a dog at your feet brings. The sacredness of companionship without words.  

We have this sometimes with friends, family, our significant other. Sometimes it comes while sitting in the same space, in that lovely silence where one does not feel compelled to fill it with talk. Sometimes it is on a walk where the falling leaves are the only voice needed. It is in the rise and fall of a baby chest during nap. It is in the hospital room with the bbrrr of the machines that guard life. It is all around us.  The thing is, sometimes I just don't allow myself to slow down to hear it. Sometimes the silence feels scary because i get thinking about things that brings anxiety. 

Over the past months, I have been learning to pay attention to those things that bring anxiety.  In fact, I have been learning to let anxiety be my teacher and in that, I have also found that I can enjoy the silence. I can let the silence speak it's own message. The silence brings great wisdom and healing, if only I take the time to listen.

The gazebo seems a bit quiet today. However, if I lean into the silence this is what i hear: children's laughter, 4 or 5 different birds chirping, a purring cat and a snoring dog, the breeze blowing through the trees, the guy up the road getting his race car ready for tonights race. In reality, silence isn't a vacuum of noise, rather it is listening to life on a different level than we are accustomed. There are a lot of exciting surprises at this level.   

good group guidelines

We used these group guidelines during during my graduate work. I also use them in all the groups that I facilitate. Several have asked for a copy, so here they are!

They can be attributed Parker Palmer.



To create a spirit of respect, curiosity, and dialogue, we will...

- Presume welcome and extend welcome.
- Refrain from fixing, saving or setting straight others in the group.
- When interaction gets tricky, turn to inquiry rather than advocacy. (wonder about something instead of defending something) Pay attention to the distinction between dialogue (which begins with a question) and debate ( which begins with an answer).
- Make sure your questions are real questions, not ones intended to make a point, demonstrate prior knowledge or communicate a hidden agenda.
- Observe confidentiality, especially regarding material shared by other participants.