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

DANCING TRIANGLES triangle being at center morphs into the 3 dancing females one large central triangle leads to 3 medium triangles...gives way to 3 smaller triangles...multiples into mini triangles...the solitary of the central male triangular figure gives way to dancing female figures... start at cente r and focus...let awareness expand until the feminine energies take hold and you begin to dance...

DASHES so many dashes each represents a concern colored clusters...yikes! every day we have thousands of thoughts, and according to research, most of them are less than positive...how many of these thoughts represent "concerns" (worries, anxieties, plans, cares for survival, safety, belonging, health, financiers, work, school, relationships...)...separately, the thoughts can seem innumerable and unmanageable, but clustered, they can be represented as themes (the colored clusters in the image)...these themes are parts of our being that are significant/important/meaningful to us, parts of ourselves that are calling out for attention... perhaps we should listen and see if we can meet some of those needs. find a relatively quiet and semi-privatae place to unwind for an hour with paper and writing instrument...using single words and short phrases begin a brain dump of everything that's bothering/troubling/stressing you...if you're not sure, ask, "how are you really do...

BAM! little swimming things drawn toward the center of things where sperm meets egg...BAM! when complementary elements connect, something special happens...in the case of sperm and egg in humans, a flash of bright light has been photographed representing the point of conception, the BAM, the merging of two different sets of DNA into a new, unique, never to be replicated, human being...a miracle. sperm are innately drawn to the center of things where the egg resides...the egg attracts the sperm, and the sperm swims rapidly to meet her...the unfolding of a life begins with the meeting of a single sperm and egg. metaphorically, consider the sperm one idea  and the egg another idea...how often do ideas attract one another, meet, and BAM, something new happens, a third idea is born; and, if given the right circumstances, the new idea will grow and mature into something extraordinary.  what ideas are you attracting by your behavior and thoughts as egg? what ideas are you persuing by...

FACES staring into you how many faces are there? 1 for each color there are many kinds of seeing, visually speaking...one can focus a laser beam of attention, directing it into the details of an object or scene, or one may gaze softly with an open focus, noticing the overall sense of the object or scene, and there are other kinds of gazes: contemplative, artistic, possessive, economic, loving and so forth...in this image, a simple gaze reveals a happy face...upon closer inspection, there are many faces, each with its own color, feeling, and message. how do you habitually look upon, see, and gaze at the world about you?  soft or hard or in-between?  try varying your focus upon some object that you are attracted to close to where you now read these words...look with laser-sharp focus in as much detail as you can...after about a minute, shift your gaze to a softer, gentler, all-encompassing look for another minute... which type of looking do you prefer and why?  the ability ...

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...