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

ROOTS & SHOOTS roots and shoots abound feeling into air and earth perfectly balanced for every shoot that we see above the ground, there are invisible (to our eye upon the earth) roots beneath the earth supporting it...what are the unseen forces, energies, people, and spirits in our life supporting us? could we also be the supporting root structure that allows others to grow and flourish? we are both above the ground and below...supported by others and supporting...we are roots and shoots . in what ways can you develop your root capacities? consider the idea of geographic STABILITY, staying in the same place/home for decades...consider this sense of rootedness in place, providing a chance for things to be supported and grow... too often in our industrialized western U.S. culture, we value changing the geographic location of our residence/home (for many different reasons...military orders, job/career moves--better pay, position...the grass appears greener elsewhere...). what woul...

CONNECTING beginning with dots connecting the same colors without crisscrossing dots with tails are swimming spermatozoa...similar colors find each other without crisscrossing with other colors...gathering the different seeds of our lives together, planting a guild, and in time harvesting. what are the different seeds clusters of our lives, the ideas and dreams that share a certain hue, that group together...can you find places in your life to plant these clusters of seeds in guilds of mutually supportive dreams...how might you tend them so that they are protected from the elements and receive the proper nourishment to sprout, grow, develop leaves and branches and eventually bloom as flowers and bear fruit for nourishment, some of them being replanting and beginning the cycle of life again...and again...

ROUND THE CLOCK round the clock 2X 1 single day & night is ALL we ever have 24 hours = 1 day + 1 night = the rhythm of our lives...within this rhythm, as measured by chronos, i suggest we practice LOVE, habits of transformation, growth, and evolution that balance the nurturing of love for ourselves, others, nature, and the divine--see the outside wheel on the image of the "clock" below... make a systematic plan for how you will balance love of self, others, nature, and the divine within two loops around the clock representing daytime and night-time... the PLAN is: a guide, not a regiment a reminder, not a requirement a strategy to bring balance and harmony,  not a mold to push atop the clay of our lives a flexible system of ideas, not a strict to do list of things to check off  ...without a plan, and some accountability, we can easily deceive ourselves, although, as noted, too much planning can be a straightjacket, also undesirable...the plan ideally represents a middle p...

SLUGS & TAILS curvy colored slugs opening to feminine busy stinging tails have you seen the slimy, white, crystalline-like trails left behind by slugs making their way over the soil in a garden? look for the small slug-like creature near the middle of the image and trace the black path back to the stinging tail...the other colors are larger slugs with larger paths and multiple tails...the tails cover their backs, protecting them, their path is curvy, feminine like in their journey, they gather together at the top for a conference before traveling further. the practice for this image is to ask and ponder responses to the following questions:  what trails are we leaving behind for others to follow (our legacy)? how much of our time do we spending protecting our backs rather than moving forward (need for protection balanced with need to be present and to plan ahead) are we embracing the feminine curves of life on our journey-in Robert Johnson's book, "Lying with the Heavenly ...

CROWN 2 ROOT from crown to the root colors co-mingle and swirl up and down the spine in qi gong (as taught by master Bruce Frantzis), qi energy flows from the top of the head (the crown) to the bottom of the feet (the root)...it actually begins above the head and extends below the feet into the earth...there are hundreds of "energy gates" within the body between these two points that need to be "open" for the qi to flow properly and energize (give life to) the body...when the qi is blocked, problems begin...when the qi is flowing well, the systems of the body are healthy. to facilitate the flow of chi, start at the crown of the head and FEEL the energy (when blocked, the energy may feel like tension, something not quite right, strength, tightness...) melting like ice to water, sinking down through the neck, arms, torso, hips, legs, and into the feet and earth...do this in a standing posture with the feet comfortably apart, head level, eyes closed, hands just touch...

CROSS CENTER the cross centers us reaches out to all of life light and energy the cross points in the cardinal four directions, sending out energy from its center, reaching all of life with love, light, and energy. the catholic sign of the cross, when repurposed as a native nature sign, can also be thought of as north (father), south (song), and east-west (holy spirit), or as a number of other 4-fold ideas, for example, 1) mother, father, son, and daughter, 2) inside, outside, up and down, 3) mind, body, emotions, and spirit,and 4) self, others, nature, divine... what are the 4 cardinal directions (purposes) of your life...perhaps you have more than 4, but see if you can write down 4--how are you currently fulfilling those purposes...what is it like traveling on those paths...do you have a vision, can you see the end goal, are you enjoying the process of journeying without yet arriving... draw a cross on paper or on a vision board and write a word, or draw an image, to represent each o...

GREEN FIELD PLAY black dots shape a face spiral energy circles play in the green field the face is ghostly with only black dots framed by red hair..the 5 spirals are colorful energy centers...the green dotted aura is the playing field... what features describe your face...your energy centers...what is the color of the field you're playing in?  we may not be able to choose the features of our face, but we can choose what features to focus on and be grateful for our senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch... we may not be able to feel our energy centers, but with practice, we can tune into the body, feeling it's pulsations...energy flowing, energy blocked, energy tight, energy smooth...how many qualities of energy in the body can you be aware of...relax, let the tension go, let the qi disolve like ice to water, flowing down from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet into the earth... we may not know what field we're playing in, but we can choose to create (or pl...

TREE BLOOM rooted in the earth rising through the greenery bloom into color the beginnings of a bloom are in the earth, connected to roots that seek out nutrients...these roots penetrate the ground and rise through the greenery (grass, moss, other plants)...tree stem then trunk and branches rise until they in maturity can support the blooming of flowers...here, in multi-colors we want the color and smell of beautiful blooms and are often unwilling to rest in the darkness of the earth, nurturing the seed, roots, and stalk, allowing time to mature, tending to the growth of stem, trunk, and branches...then, if the conditions are right, BLOOM (reminded of the Audio Adrenalin's album Bloom ). consider your life "in process"...take an inventory...what is beneath the earth that needs nurturing--how will you concretely take action--5 minute minimum--to nurture it today...what is trying to push up from the earth...what needs the tender care of a seedling--what can you do to protec...

GREEN CUP patterns of colors leaking into the green cup filled with Mother Earth the colors could be chakras, rainbows of frequencies, an artist's palette, or different aspects of one's life..."leaking into" implies that we cannot hold onto everything, that things "leak" out of us and into the world, our energies are in continuous interaction with the world beyond our skin, including other people...at a fundamental level, the world (including us) is Mother Earth contained in the green cup, the greenness of earth.  what is leaking out of you? what are you trying to hold on to and need to let go of...perhaps you can create a meditation and/or ceremony to put it in a green cup and offer it to mother earth? as one example, we leak out urine and feces every day...most of us flush it down into the sewer, but what if we gave it back to mother earth , what if we contained it in a compost pile, and returned what the Mother gave us (food and water) back to Her to comp...

SLOPE ebbing and flowing slow, fast...low, high...in and out... the slope of breathing mostly, we don't notice our breathing...it ebbs and flows according to the needs of our body and the state of our mind...sometimes slow, sometimes faster, sometimes low or deep abdominal, sometimes high or shallow chested...in and out the air comes and goes...underneath it all is a pattern...how aware are we of that pattern, the slope of breath, the slope of life... pay conscious attention to the in and out breath for one minute without trying to change it...just watch...what pattern do you notice, what is the slope of your breath...do you see a connection to whatever is going on in your mind and body at the moment...if you want to shift or change, experiment with changing your thoughts, moving (or stilling) your body, or changing the rhythm of the breath (increasing or decreasing)...see how changing one of the three aspects influences the other two...