Georgia Made It Around the Sun Another Time

Dear Ones:

"Perhaps you've been impatiently waiting for the moment to jump into new adventures after your meditation during the last few months. Know that the moment has almost arrived! You now have the strategy, objective, and means at your disposal to succeed. Just a bit more work remains to be done. Gather your strength and get ready to take action with renewed vigor."

This was my daily horoscope as I logged on this morning. It is my practice to start my birthday with a message of my reflection on the year past, to reach out to those whom I love and all who influence the quality of my life, making it the marvel that it is.

I have been around the sun another lap (61 thus far), this year taking time on a regular basis to run out on clear nights and wave at the International Space Shuttle. There are people in that light. We are small in the universe but mighty as we walk the earth. I am constantly amazed by this.

It has been a year with challenge, is true. But why bemoan that. I survive and learn from every moment. I think I am more clear about and with myself than I have ever been, most aware of the truth of my being on this planet, alive in this consciousness. I care deeply for our world and it would be so easy, even tempting to dwell in the fear of what we see around us. I try to refrain daily from indulging in fear but strive to keep my heart open to the reality. I am keenly aware of water, as I fret about my friends and family living in the arid portion of our nation. I want to travel but I see a world in strife and yet, there is a spot of blue revealing itself above after the lullaby of rain through the night. Now the sun pours on the last of the yellow in the garden.

This past year, I have been honored by so many. On my 60th birthday, so many of you supported my choice to complete my degree and now, after 40+ years, I am a college student once again but, as you would expect, in a non-traditional setting. I am on track to graduate with my BA, my concentration in creative writing in community and public education. I was one of four recognized this year as the recipients of the Unsung Heroes awards, where I stood on the stage at Carrier Dome before nearly 2,000 members of my community, humbled and grateful, holding back tears. How could I possibly be in the same breath as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film clips alone as we all congregated for the annual Syracuse University event were tear-inducing. And here I was, being lauded for my efforts on behalf of others.

It is my nature. This is what my parents taught me and life has brought me. I will always look a human in the eye. I will do my best to listen. And I will encourage. That is my role as a being in this consciousness and it is my charge to uphold. It really is not that much to be asked. I have so much respect for all of you, my friends, my cherished ones, my community, for all the ways that you grace the planet and each other. I may not have seen you in years, I may have texted you yesterday. All that matters is that you have accented my life and, for that, I am grateful.

I am eager and open for opportunities. I am ready for structure and focus. I await the next collection of poetry, which is scheduled to enter the world in April 2015. I am immersed in another book project that will follow. I am a writer and that is the guiding energy behind everything I do in my life. Now to maximize it and stabilize my income and all will be wondrous. But I cannot complain. I am privileged to be alive and to share this remarkable experience with all of you. I love my two part time jobs, I love teaching in all the ways I do it, I love my home, I love my dog. I love my vast community of friends.

I am eager for what will come in the next year. I am ready for opportunity. My mantra is: I am willing and open to opportunities and I will gracefully, graciously, and gratefully accept the highest good for all involved. I pair that with the old standard, a gift from a friend a number of years back. I share it with you all now: Proceed and be bold. Go forth in grace and gratitude boldly yourselves. Thank you for all you give to me in the countless ways. Know that you are valued and cherished. You are a unique expression of the undefinable universe and I recognize you, I love you, and I am grateful that you honor me by doing the same. Be well in all ways.

Namaste,
Georgia

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

One of my most ardent followers admonished me back channel because I had not posted in a month. I guess this is more than a place to think in language, there is a certain responsibility to it. The lesson of discipline is one of the ones I am most incorporating at this time. And a responsibility to my readers.

I am learning more about my attention inconsistencies and my compulsive nature, how to make these aspects of myself tools, learning how to make them work for me rather than act as barriers and speed bumps.

This was the first summer I have had to myself to do pretty much what I want in 30 years or so. I started my first job 39 years ago this past summer. Most summers since then, I have had to work in some form. This summer I had the ability:

• to sort out a lot on the interior world,
• to notice the world with patient consciousness,
• to start the serious organization of all of the chaos and clutter around me,
• to journal regularly,
• to laugh,
• to walk,
• to read for pleasure,
• to listen to the cicada and watch the birds at the feeders for hours,
• to pull weeds,
• to sniff as the Stargazer lilies beg for attention...

...all this and more. I realized that, in my life as a poet and human, this is my work now. There was a moment in which I recognized that I finally understand the premise of being in the moment. I pray that I never lose this awareness. It is where I find my peace.

The past year has been one of the most significant and growthful years of my life. I reconnected with who I truly am. I examined my intention in all things, and I did a critical review of my work as a teaching artist. I rested and reflected on my year past and now I am readying for the upcoming school year. I will return to classrooms with teachers whom I admire and with whom I love working. I will meet new teachers and students. I will see students I know who have had a year's worth of development since last school year. I look forward to how much I will grow again this year.

And next summer, I will do it again. This is the cycle of my life now. I am so grateful. I am so blessed.

Namaste.