Haiku Ellipses...Invitation...Response...

ELEPHANT BALLS psychedelic balls sitting, staring, right at you elephant plays trunk  elephant balls may bring images of a bull elephant charging, but these kinds of elephant balls are quite different...they sit there, staring right at you...at first, you may not even see the elephant playing its trunk like a saxophone, measuring out bluesy notes from low to high and back again...moreover, the colors appear as chakras (or super enlarged molecules) that make up our interconnected bodies. imagine your favorite musical instrument as a series of colored balls...see yourself playing the instrument...what kind of music do you want to create with these colored balls...with your life? if you are able, try to actually play the kind of music you want to hear, or look up on the internet someone playing the kind of music you want to hear with that instrument.  

EARTH - SUN - BODY   legs root in the earth head connected to the sun body shoots blue light perhaps you've heard or read about grounding or earthing...in its simplest form, bare feet make contact with bare earth...when this connection is established, many experience a balancing of energies that have health benefits, including reduced inflammation, as documented by image scan studies...this is rooting in the earth ...the energy can also flow from the sun to the crown of the head and then spread throughout the body as anyone who enjoys a bit of sunshine outdoors can testify to...this is connecting with the sun ...when the energy from the earth combines with the energy from the sun inside our bodies, we may vibrate with blue earth-sun light that can shoot out from our bodies. arrange to go outside into a safe nature space (e.g., a lawn, garden, or local park) on a sunny clear day with mild temperatures an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset, take off any footwear so the soles...

COME TOGETHER sit back, get comfy let the parts come together in a tasty soup have you heard the phrase, "trust the soup"? meaning trust the process, that it will all come together organically in the end, given enough time, effort, and patience...Family system's theory (see books by Richard Schwartz, and Internal Family System's website: https://ifs-institute.com/resources/articles/internal-family-systems-model-outline) suggests that  we have many "parts" of ourselves that have needs/desires, and that we need to integrate these parts into our life, into a tasty soup that nourishes and sustains us for the journey. the practice...sit back, get comfy and spend some time getting to know the different parts of yourself via meditation, journaling, artwork, music (take your pick)...you can think of these parts as roles in life, personalities, desires, inclinations, and/or needs...the important part of this process is to identify, acknowledge, and name the parts so ...

CHI HAND water descending green earth sphere is arising chi hand modulates water comes down from above and gives rise to the green earth below with the chi hand modulating between them, guiding the flow of water to earth...i imagine many situations where "water" things are pouring down upon us...we need the sensitivity of the chi hand to regulate this flow of water energy to the earth (us or whatever circumstances we are working with) to apply the Goldilocks "just right" amount of energy to initiate and grow whatever is needed for the situation. take a good look at your hands...think of all the things they have done for you during your lifetime...thank them for the gift they are...consider how your hands can regulate energy flows within and around you to maximize life, growth, and well being...what concrete thing can you do in the next five minutes with your hands to increase your well being (e.g., mindfully drink a glass of filtered water, gently place your hand on...

EYES WITHIN see the eyes within the many creatures lurking within the belly inside the belly is our core center, our hara, and our "gut intelligence" made of many micro-organisms...some are friendly creatures (good bacteria like in sauerkraut and probiotic products) and unfriendly creatures (harmful bacteria from animal flesh and dairy products)...the creatures are all looking and lurking, waiting to be fed and to feast...we need to feed the good creatures that support our well being and starve out the other ones. the practice is a hard one for most...it involves aligning one's diet with optimal well-being and health, to be compassionate and kind to our body...nutritionally, this translates into a plant-based diet supplemented with vitamin B-12 (the only vitamin we can't get from plants--B-12 is a bacteria from the soil that is artificially added to many products...one can get enough B-12 from commercial nut milk for instance)...conduct a search using your favorite br...

CELLULAR crazy kind of stuff makes no sense when drawing it life inside a cell the living of life day to day often doesn't make sense to me...many times life feels like "crazy kind of stuff"...and yet, looking back, writing in my journal, or at in-between moments when i have cause to PAUSE...i sense/see/feel something...in this case, at the micro level, i see life inside a cell, but it can also be at the macro level, the pieces of life from past/present/future that fit together, as the parts of a cell that fit together, that need each other in their interdependent being. allow yourself a few moments of peace and quiet (as best you can, depending on your circumstances...moms with little ones may only find solace in the bathroom for a few minutes, or in the wee hours of the night or morning) and zoom out (or into) of your life...what do you see/sense/feel...does it look like crazy stuff...life within the cellular?

GR EA T GA TH ER IN G the great gathering of multicolored loose ends unmanageable there are a vast number of loose ends in my life...multi-colored, multi-lengths, multi-topics, multi-levels of concern...when i attempt to gather them (the great gathering--the first part of Eugene Gelden's book Focusing speaks of saying hello to ourselves and asking how's it going...gathering the threads of life and choosing one to focus on), i find it unmanageable... too big, too complex, too difficult to pull all the strings together into something coherent and meaningful. i'm harvesting my journals since high school (i just turned 64 last month) and find that the attempt to gather the various strings (learnings) from the journals is one way to approach the "great gathering"--it's an arduous process to re-read and discern what parts of my life are lessons worthy of passing on to the next generation, and, even though i find it unmanageable, i need to do it, for myself, and fo...

UNFULFILLED DESIRE reaching out to touch stretching...trying to connect unfulfilled desire despite our best efforts, sometimes, our desire is unfulfilled...even if we reach, stretch, and try to connect...we can still be left empty and unfulfilled...we can also learn something in the process...perhaps our desires were not aligned with our deeper values, or maybe the timing is off, or others may choose not to reciprocate, or we may not have the ability to communicate what we really need, or we need to regroup and sharpen our skills or build our resources or... consider some event in the recent past where you really tried to stretch yourself to reach a goal, but it ended in "failure"...you didn't win...the competition, the promotion, the raise, the grade, the date, the bid on a project, the illness...it isn't a failure if you learned something...consider what learnings you may have gained through this loss...perhaps, in the long run, it wouldn't be best for you, per...

SPINNING VORTEXES spinning vortexes different and connected flowing energy the chakras (pronounced "chuck-rahs") are spinning vortexes shaped like spherical-funnels that begin inside the body and extend past the skin as depicted in several eastern religions/philosophies (e.g., Hinduism and Buddhism)...each chakra is associated with a different color...herein i show the main chakras along the central axis of the body...there are many more minor chakras located throughout the body...note the interconnectedness of the chakras that allow for the flow of energy (chi or prana). visualize each colored spinning vortex of energy from the violet colored chakra at top of the head at the crown, to purple between the eyes, blue at the throat, green at the heart, yellow at the solar plexus, orange at the navel, and red at the genitals and perineum...bring conscious attention to these areas with the appropriate colors one by one for 5-60 seconds each...then, allow and feel the energy flowin...

CO LO RE D B AL LS colored balls galore swirling vortexes reveal chakra alignment many individual balls can be swirling in our lives...all at the same time! attempting to manage and juggle the various balls is challenging...stepping back from observing each individual ball to the wider constellation of balls, there is some sense that the colored balls are interconnected, each spinning in relation to the others, many micro orbits creating a one macro orbit (which is in turn, part of another larger orbit, ad infinitum)...in this case of the many colored balls, there is a chakra alignment of energies within the body. take a few minutes to read about or watch a video, by a credible source with education and experience, on the chakras...meditate a few minutes on how your individual chakras FEEL, and then on how they FEEL together as a whole system of energy...do any of the chakras feel "out of alignment"...if so, what simple thing can you do in the next 5 mins to bring one of them...