......pennies from heaven

Yogis,

Each spring without fail a few pairs of carpenter bees set up camp in my front porch wooden railing.  Small piles of reddish dust appear on the bottom of the railing, the telltale signs of their meticulous drilling. One of the partners always stands guard, hovering noisily over the middle of the stairs so that I must ask permission to pass with each trip out of the house.

The bees themselves cause some damage, but the real destruction occurs when the woodpeckers who nest behind us discover these bee homes. In a split second they can rip open a complete section of the railing, pleased with their tasty meal. An irritation and expense for sure, but I can’t bring myself to kill these beneficial bee creatures.

A woman came to pick up her CSA share last week. She only picks up here in summer so I hadn’t seen her in a year. As I shared my woe of yearly rail replacements, one of the bees stayed at eye height between us to keep watch on our movements. She shared her remedy which was to stick a penny in the hole when they leave. After a few times of this they move on to less complicated housing.

The next morning a penny dropped out of my pocket upstairs and I set it on the tub to use as bee prevention. But then after showering and dressing I forget. Every day I see the penny sitting and waiting, and then forget.

Skip to Easter weekend up at my family’s. After parking at CVS my mom and I were walking across the lot when an older woman parked in a handicapped spot got out of her van, using a cane. I saw her bend down to pick up a penny. I yelled over ‘your lucky day!’, to which she responded with a grin, “It is my husband. Wherever I go he leaves me a penny. He is here today. I call them pennies from heaven.”

Two days ago I am coming out of the Bethesda Coop store wheeling my cart across the lot. A car is waiting for me to unload. The lot is busy with several cars in search of spots but I see the door of the waiting car open and a woman step out. She leaves the car and comes toward me. It’s the woman from the CSA! ‘I had to find out if the pennies worked?’ she asked as cars patiently waited for us.

Are you seeing a trend? You might call them coincidences. I call them signs from the Universe which also happened to be my topic in classes this week. There is some message for me in the pennies right now.

I could brush it off or I can sit and listen. I am choosing to listen and go deeper. I googled the ‘definition’ and it reads….. unexpected benefits, especially financial ones. I will stay open for further word. Perhaps my recent money worries should be dropped. Maybe I am supposed to be dropping pennies on someone else. Lakshmi may be responding to my chanting letting me know that I am already abundant. Listening.

The sign posts are always around us but we often are too busy to notice. They can be words in a song, synchronicities, repetitive numbers, books, dreams, experiences. If you choose to tune in, they will guide you on your life path, removing some of the struggle of the journey.  Consciously watch for your signs this week and follow them.

I picked an oracle card last night. The message was ‘Surrender’. Ok.......

Tuning into guidance,
SARAH

....a new way of seeing

Yogis,

In the Washington DC area, we have a highway which draws one large circle around downtown and the close in suburbs of MD and VA known by all here simply as ‘the Beltway’. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with this 64 mile stretch of road. It is often the most direct or quickest route from point A to point B but at certain times of day, or if any incidents occur, it can become a parking lot in the blink of an eye.

To further complicate it, the beltway crosses the river twice, taking you from VA into MD and then back again on the other side of the circle. Therefore, for those who must cross over to the other state, if the beltway is congested, the next smaller crossover can be quite a distance away.

Over the past 10 years the hours of gridlock have grown exponentially. Many of us plan our outings, vacations and the restaurants we frequent based on the timing of the traffic. An overturned tanker on one of the river crossings just a few weeks ago caused five to seven hour trips home that night. Yes, it appears a change is required.

Our governor’s solution, backed by many who must commute and some who live in our neighborhoods receiving the cut through traffic, is to widen the beltway by 4 lanes. That is how it is done. Sounds simple, but of course it is not.

All of us living close, already hearing its hum when the wind blows our way, will suddenly become even closer. Some neighbors will lose their homes. Hundreds of trees will come down, joining the hundreds of others already being felled or dying from our overgrowth. And our already fragile river and creek, where I spend much time reconnecting to myself and what’s real will endure even more runoff.

All, so they say…….in the name of progress. Sigh.

If this expansion was somehow going to magically solve everyone’s commuting issues, I would try to rally behind it, but it’s smoke in mirrors. For a short time perhaps, there will be some ease, but with more road more development will quickly follow and more people will decide it is ok to commute further and we will be right back where we started. I feel like this is a band aid on a gaping wound.

We are seeing this problem with the same eyes that created it. We need new eyes. A new way of seeing.

In class we are working with our third eye center. Our energy of seeing what is real. Cutting through illusion to awaken. Not being swayed by the current consciousness. We sorely need this type of insight now for this, and many other current issues.

With the explosion of technology there is another solution and there are minds out there who given permission will not be blinded by how things have always been done. Think Uber, Airbnb, electric scooters dropped off in the dark of night, Paypal……

I myself keep asking a question. Why does everyone have to get in a car and drive a distance to a building to do their job? Some professions such as nursing may have no other choice (although even our medical appointments are beginning to happen online) but the majority of us push paper and given the right options could change our ways. 

But this would require a paradigm shift. An acknowledgment that what we are doing isn’t working. Taking a risk to believe in something out there that we don’t yet understand. Having vision.

The current solution already feels obsolete. My hope is for some new eyes to be opened before it’s too late.

Vision,
SARAH

.....life lessons from a garden

Yogis,

My garden is my continual teacher. Like any good teacher she surprises me with new ideas and demonstrates concepts in a multitude of different ways, but she also reminds me over and over of some of the most basic principles to make sure they take root.

This week she reminded me once again about the energy of empty space.

I was down on my knees removing the weeds (remember the definition of a weed is – a plant located in a place you don’t want it) from my circle. There is one particular plant that showed up a few years ago and now would love if I allowed it to spread and be the only plant in my wheel. So, one by one I was digging them out of this area........

I noticed that the red bergamot I planted two years ago is now spreading beautifully, creating a carpet in the south quadrant of the garden. The black eyed susans too have filled in their area quite nicely. Yet the area where I was doing my removal was now left bare as I removed these plants. Clear space. Empty. Somewhat satisfying to see this place of nothing that I had created. A void.

But then the garden whispered in my ear. Remember. A void is empty, containing nothing…….yet it contains the potential of absolutely everything. What is it that you want?

I know I don’t want that particular plant in this area, but if I leave the earth bare, without question something will grow there. May be a pleasant surprise or could be something even less appealing or stubborn. Instead, I should choose what I want and plant it there!

Once something is removed, and space is created energy will organize to fill it once again. Just look at your closet if you want a good example! It is a law of the universe and you can choose to work with it or against it. You can insist on a ‘weed free’ bed covered only with mulch and do battle all summer or plant a sea of lavender and mint in which to lie.  Which will it be?

No different in life. When something in our life isn’t serving us we often focus on its removal. If, however we aren’t clear on what we want in its place the new that sweeps in could hold the exact same energy. Negative relationships repeated one after another. A string of unsatisfying jobs. One addiction replacing another.  

This is why intentions are always stated in the positive. Don’t tell the Universe what you don’t want. Let it know clearly what you do want and then go to work co-creating it. The Universe loves clarity and has unlimited organizing power to draw things toward you. But you must plant the seed.

Zinnias. That is what I want in the space. I can visualize them now. A spray of vivid flowers covered with monarchs and hummingbirds.  Yes, that is what I want!

Time to buy the seeds……

What is it that you want?
SARAH

We love Bluebell season!

.......please take the reins

Yogis,

Spring has sprung! The cherry blossoms are in peak bloom and daffodils line the street all looking up and waving. And yesterday I saw the first dandelion bloom in my yard. Yes, spring has sprung, and the landscape trucks are rolling into town to get the lawns ready.

This brings up the topic of…….. (the back ground music now hits those low piano notes of fear and suspense) ……WEEDS!!!!  Aaaahhhhhh!

The energy of spring is one of life, joy, birth, expansion and growth. But for some reason in humans it brings out the warrior in us.

I drove past our local nursery and their sign announced that it is time to prepare the lawn and of course, ‘eliminate the weeds.’ A truck sitting in a neighborhood driveway was painted with scary looking weeds and bugs with a clear warning that you certainly don’t want them in your yard.

I went to Home Depot this weekend in search of basic, plain, uncoated grass seed – which is getting hard to find – but the row of weed killers goes on as far as the eye can see. One promised to eradicate all dandelions and clover with its ‘weed gripper’ while the one lying next to it guaranteed to not only kill the weeds you see, but also the ones you don’t.  Hmmmm…….

The next aisle showcased a fertilizer that will ‘kill insects above and below the ground’. Why exactly do we need to kill the bugs in the dirt? Wouldn’t that kind of take the life out of dirt? All of these stating that after drying your kids and pets can be on them, but not sure I would want my grandchildren rolling on these lawns.

Last week my sister heard a commercial for fertilizers whose message was – Show your lawn who’s boss! How silly.

Suddenly I had an aha moment. This is all about control. Life as a human on this planet has gotten complicated. Right when we feel like we are getting it, we are sideswiped by some new news. There is very little we can control so our poor lawns are taking the brunt. Maybe if I can have a lawn with no dandelions, I will feel that I am driving my life.

Why do we have this need to control? I, for one often beg the Universe to take the reins! PLEASE, let me be guided! Allow me to lie back every now and then and surrender.

As for poor Ms Dandelion…..she is the first flower that almost every child gives so innocently to their mother with abundant joy. Dandelion is one of us and she is beautiful.  Please don’t kill her.

I bought a dozen range free eggs this week and there was a card inside that said ‘Nature is Boss….Follow her lead’.  Yes!!!!

Om,
SARAH