I want you to feel better, stronger, inspired I've written a lot of personal stuff today in AOM Meditations I hope I said it right It's a bit scary to expose one's vulnerabilities But I agree with the following quote:
“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage,
empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy,
accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our
purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is
the path.”
~Brené Brown
~*~
Here's something I find strange
Everything I've posted here
Fits perfectly with all I've posted on the other AOM
But for some reason
I just feel more free to experiment here
I guess it is all part of the creative process
I do hope you will enjoy your visit here
Thank you again for following me over here
I wish you a Glorious Day
Let us continue to promote
Peace and Love
and continue to build
The more Beautiful World
Our Hearts know is Possible
Peace and Love,
AOM
~*~
I invite you to join me now in this short Metta Prayer
Radiating the energy of peace and love out to all living beings
Take a few deep breaths to clear your mind
And focus on the here and now
This present moment
Now
Breathe in
Filling your being with peace and love
As you begin each line, breathe out slowly
Breathing these thoughts into the world
Reading, thinking, and feeling the words with peace and love
Sending them from your heart
Giving the energy to yourself and to all living beings
We'd have nothing to give It is in breaking that we become whole
In the West, we try and repair a broken piece of ceramic to make it "good as new." Invisible lines. Glue that dries clear. In Japan, if a ceramic piece breaks, the thought is to make it better than new by repairing the crack with gold or silver. Almost like valuing or appreciating a face that has earned it's wrinkles as opposed to using Botox!
Kintsugi
is the Japanese art
of repairing broken pottery with elegance and grace
And like "wabi-sabi"
It encourages us to
Embrace our flaws and imperfections
Imperfections are beautiful
Broken lines are as beautiful as straight lines
Don't throw away something that is broken;
mend it and make it more beautiful.
Don't hide where you've been broken
Display the beauty of your mending
And through your giving
You encourage others
And help them find healing
Here's a short video describing ‘Kintsugi’
(runtime: 4 minutes)
~*~
"The world breaks everyone and afterward
many are strong in the broken places."
~Ernest Hemingway
(A Farewell to Arms, 1929)
~*~
We've all been emotionally wounded and broken
We all have our stories
In different ways - in different degrees perhaps
Doesn't really matter
Those events broke us - hurt us - we suffered the pain
One I remember
Made me feel as though
Someone had taken a large iron pickaxe
And slammed it deep into my chest
(with the pointy end)
I still remember that pain
Even after 30 years
It doesn't hurt as much anymore
I'll never forget it though
I let anger overwhelm me
I wanted revenge
I wanted to hurt them
Worse than they had hurt me
but
I didn't
I just curled up into a ball
And wailed and sobbed into my pillow
(That was one tear soaked pillow : ) (Tears are so cleansing)
The good news
I was fortunate
I learned to forgive them (eventually)
(important first step)
I eventually healed
Though I didn't think it was possible at the time
Time
Distance of minutes, hours, days, years
Away from the initial injury
The hurts will always be there leaving their scars upon us
But time and distance do help to ease the pain
And as I healed
Something unexpected happened
Something almost magical
The scars - my Scars
The places I was broken
They made me stronger
Because I had suffered
I became more compassionate
Because I was wounded
I found new strength I didn't know I possessed
A stronger version of me was unveiled
A confidence I'd never known before
Having lived through it (and other injuries)
I knew I could brave the world again
To brave Love again
I knew I could take whatever might come my way I knew that my wounding Was a blessing Because now I had something important to give I would take this new understanding that I had gained And turn to help others
With thrilling confidence
I picked myself up
And courageously lifted my eyes and faced the sun
The new Day
And moved forward
Our wounds
are but the cracks
Through which Love enters to kiss and soothe our souls Through which Love exits to kiss and soothe the souls of others Cherish these areas of brokenness
Embrace your flaws - Embrace your scars You are so very beautiful and so very strong More than you know
I kiss your wounds
Infusing you with peace and love, my Friend
~AOM
~*~
“The wounding becomes sacred
when we are willing to release our old stories
and to become the vehicles through which
the new story may emerge into time.”
~Jean Houston
~*~
“I must be ever so careful to remember
that my pain is a precious salve
that when used in the service of others
can heal a thousand wounds and more.
And I must likewise remember
that if I do not use it as such,
I have done nothing more
than wound myself yet again.”
~Craig D. Lounsbrough
~*~
“In a futile attempt to erase our past,
we deprive the community of our healing gift.
If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame,
our inner darkness can neither be illuminated
nor become a light for others.”
~Brennan Manning
(Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging)
~*~
If you ain't been chipped, cracked or broken
You ain't doing it right
: )
~ AOM
All Better and Even More Beautiful
~*~
OH! Just to let you know - That person that hurt me 30 years ago Is a most cherished Friend of mine today
Thanks to our Friend for sending us this beautiful art
~*~
“All religions are equally false and equally true, depending on how you use them. You can use them in the service of the ego, or you can use them in the service of the Truth. If you believe only your religion is the Truth, you are using it in the service of the ego. Used in such a way, religion becomes ideology and creates an illusory sense of superiority as well as division and conflict between people. In the service of the Truth, religious teachings represent signposts or maps left behind by awakened humans to assist you in spiritual awakening, that is to say, in becoming free of identification with form.”
~Eckhart Tolle
~*~
"What we observe is not nature, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." The way we see the world shapes our narrative describing it. Even through the objective lens of science, it is still the human view of the world. If science is the best way we have to avoid being fooled by our perceptions, it still reflects those perceptions. The human touch is in everything we create, science included.
Parmina's (Kathleen Battle) heart is broken when her boyfriend, Tamino, refuses to speak to her, not knowing that he has taken a vow of silence in order to pass a test to win her love. When she approaches him and he apparently ignores her, she sings that she feels as if her life is over.
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
~*~
When I have the opportunity
I Love Being Naked Outdoors
Stripping away my clothes
I feel the weight of society's chains drop away
All barriers dissolve
To stand Naked - Pure -
in the Light and warm embrace of the Sun
Basking in the Glory of God's Creation
I thank God for giving me the time to commune
with Him and Nature Naturally
Nothing between me and Nature
I am One with the Great I Am
There is nothing "sinful" about being a naturist
Being naked is not dirty or nasty or lewd or "sin" As I was taught growing up
It is how God made us - it is our Natural State
It is all in our attitude - our perspective
As Kahlil Gibran wrote in his book, The Prophet
"Forget not that modesty is for a shield
against the eye of the unclean.
And when the unclean shall be no more,
what were modesty
but a fetter and a fouling of the mind
And forget not
that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair."
One of my favorite quotes about Naturism
Comes from one of my favorite teachers
Walt Whitman
(Uncle Walt, as I like to call him)
Here's what he says about his experience
Being Naked in the Great Outdoors
"Never before did I get so close to Nature; never before did she come so close to me… Nature was naked, and I was also… Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! - ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability, that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent.
Perhaps indeed he or she to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature has never been eligible (and how many thousands there are!) has not really known what purity is—nor what faith or art or health really is. (Probably the whole curriculum of first-class philosophy, beauty, heroism, form, illustrated by the old Hellenic race—the highest height and deepest depth known to civilization in those departments—came from their natural and religious idea of Nakedness."
~Walt Whitman
(“A Sun-Bath–Nakedness” in “Specimen Days”)
~*~
May we lie naked in the sun
On blankets of sweet clovers
Swim naked in the cool flowing stream
And stand Naked and Pure before God
In Joy, Pleasure, and Praise
Engulfed in silent rapture by the artwork of the Great I Am
IMPORTANT: This is brainwave entrainment music and it contains delta frequencies. It was was designed to be experienced at a very quiet volume with your eyes closed. Playing it too loudly or playing it while trying to focus on other tasks can give some people a bit of a headache. Put your other tasks aside and listen quietly. This soothing but powerful music will encourage your mind to let go of concentrated thinking and open up to a world of inner exploration and deep insight. It is wonderful background music for meditation, sleep or hypnosis and can lead to feelings of extraordinary peacefulness. Relax and go with it...
Come back and listen at length any time you want to relax,
“It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. . . . Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving. . . . The Indians in their simplicity literally give away all that they have—to relatives, to guests of other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom they can hope for no return.”
~Charles Alexander Eastman
~*~
“A strange species we are, We can stand anything God and nature can throw at us save only plenty. If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, sick.
~John Steinbeck
(to Adlai Stevenson)
~*~
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
~1 Timothy 6:10
~*~
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
Welcome to our new blog AOM SoulFood: Peace and Love The seed has been planted Now let us see how it grows and where it goes I have no idea how this blog will evolve And that makes it fun
Please Please Please Comment or E-mail me If you are here with me Blogging is not much fun If no one is here with me It all seems rather pointless If there is no one to share All this good stuff with me I need your love and support To keep me blogging
You and I are more powerful than we know The same strength that empowered our heroes Is the same strength that runs through us Let's keep the positive energy flowing We need it With all the negativity there is in our world We need powerful vitamins of positivity To keep ourselves strong So we can continue to build The more Beautiful World Our Hearts know is Possible
This is what I am trying to do through AOM Hoping that something I post Will strengthen you Will empower you Will bring us together To build that better world
I hope you will follow our new AOM blog
I yearn for AOM to be a shining beacon
To help brighten your days and nourish your soul
I wish you a most Glorious Day
Peace and Love,
AOM
~*~
By popular demand I will continue to post this prayer for us
I invite you to join me now in this short Metta Prayer Radiating the energy of peace and love out to all living beings Take a few deep breaths to clear your mind And focus on the here and now This present moment Now Breathe in Filling your being with peace and love As you begin each line, breathe out slowly Breathing these thoughts into the world Reading, thinking, and feeling the words with peace and love Sending them from your heart Giving the energy to yourself and to all living beings Breathe in and repeat the process for each line
“Around us, life bursts with miracles--a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life's daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
~*~
“I have noticed that people are dealing too much with the negative, with what is wrong. ... Why not try the other way, to look into the patient and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”
~Thich Nhat Hanh
~*~
"Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth."
Gorgeous Music Lovely Video Let the beauty of this music and video inspire you Let it strengthen our hope That Light will overcome darkness That Hope will over come despair That Love will overcome hate Michael Hoppé "This Majestic Land" Prague Symphony Orchestra
This is the best description of AOM's mission Why I do what I do This is a quote I read to start each day So let us call this quote AOM's Mission Statement
“To be hopeful in bad times is not
just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a
history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage,
kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history
will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our
capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and
there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us
the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this
spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do
act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand
utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to
live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that
is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
All images and text, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain. If you own rights to an image/text and do not wish your image/text to appear on this blog, or would like for credit to be given, please contact me by E-mail or by leaving a comment and the image/text will be removed or credited immediately. aom soul food morning dew does not endorse the content of blogs or sites which link here or which are accessible from this blog. This blog has no commercial intention whatsoever, is not sponsored or payed for. (E-mail Addy: braomATgmx.com )
