Blogs

© 2011 Howard McQueen

How do we, once we have opened our heart,

 live in a world with others
 that behave in heartless ways? 

Before we talk about everyone else,

  we could perhaps ask ourselves

   “how needy are we to receive the love of others?”

When we try to woo another

  to win their affections and acceptance,

  we often overlook the flaws and the wounds

  that need to be seen, in order to be healed

An open heart need not buy into gullibility.

An open heart need not repeatedly allow itself to be betrayed.

An open heart acknowledges flaws in self and flaws in others,

  and that the opening of the heart in others requires their own conscious choice.

An open heart does not stop trusting others

  because it sees others, clearly

  it feels the absence of heart in others, clearly

  and it quietly encourages heart when others are open,

  and leaves those who are closed, to potentially become open another day.

An open heart also knows when it is important to step back and rejuvenate,

  and that there is never a need to accept abuse or misconduct from others.

The open heart is therefore wed to a depth of love for self,

  and calls upon the reserves of courage to fiercely defend respect.

(c) 2011 Howard McQueen

Life unfolds in an infinitely high-definition, broadband overflow,

 containing levels of granularity that are unknowable.

Most of the time, we are blessed to be insulated from this

 overwhelming flow.

And yet, blessings can just as easily morph into curses,

 as we rely upon our filters to create assumptions

 that dumb-down our experiences.

This can lead to insular expectations for how we believe

 life is supposed to unfold.

Once our awareness is dumbed-down, we begin to regard others

 as an increasingly low-fidelity representation of what really is.

Like a photo with no depth-of-field, we loose touch with the complex

aliveness of the content conveyed through living.

Fortunately, we have allies in the form of curiosity and patience.

Deep within, we also have an innate regard for appreciating how we can still be

touched by awe and beauty.

As we train ourselves to slow down and observe this complex web and flow of life,

we learn not to make any snap judgments.  Room is left to allow for both the

messiness and occasional clarities of insight to co-exist. 

What is, is then, faithfully restored.

Our filtering lens - cleansed again.

Awakening, for most of us, is not a single, struck-by-lightening event.

It is this ongoing practice that leaves us willing to appreciate and explore

the infinite minutiae contained in every moment.

© 2011 Howard McQueen

An abiding love does not hold back.

It waits for opportunities to express its

 myriad commitments to loving.

One who has this abiding love overflows from source,

 feeling a deep, sweet centeredness

 assert itself throughout their days.

An abiding love’s sweetness is contagious,

 as it lands upon others as unconditional encouragement.

An abiding love brings us the lesson plans of inclusivity,

 reminding us to focus on the shared universal

 and to stay with the wisdom of remaining non-judgmental.

An abiding love

 activates an inner vitality

 in both its giver and receiver.

An abiding love

 does not hope for anything to remain the same,

 for it opens the door of curiosity

 to whatever it encounters.

This abiding love

 runs deep

 in both you,

 and me.

(c) 2011 Howard McQueen

Our assessments,

 our judgments

 levied upon our self

  "You failed under pressure"

  "You failed to keep the marriage intact"

  " You ... "

These judgments lodge very deep,

 residing underneath

 veiled and cloaked.

They are like silent thieves,

 bands of saboteurs,

 contract assassins.

They actualize self-limiting  and corrupted

 images of self,  literally warping our mental states,

 capturing our attention,

 shifting our focus

 to doubt, fear,

 to believing we are inadequate,

 and unnecessarily vulnerable.

Re-evaluation and reassessment

 are processes where we become

 empowered to dis-empower these judgments,

 deconstructing the stories.

This is essential to our remaining vulnerable and vital.

As we learn to disengage our focus

 and no longer believe these stories as valid

 to our self-image,

 a calm inner-centeredness is reclaimed.

We learn we can indeed train our attention

 and hold the intention

 to be present with life

 as it unfolds in this moment.

Version 2.0
© 2011 Howard McQueen

Venture forth blithe spirit,

 for this universe is your home.

This abundant world of natural resources

 invites you to play

 and marvel in what you may discover.  

This brief pilgrimage,

  Feel it all,

  take it all in,

  venture forth.

And remember, you are gifted with the ability to discern

 and become increasing aware

 and awakened to this unknowable bliss.

(C) 2011 Howard McQueen

It is seemingly but a flicker,

Many of you may already know of the photo of the day site, which awards one photo each day.  Here is today's photo.

Enjoy!

http://www.earthshots.org/2011/05/world-from-above-by-pranabesh-das/

Version 2.0

(C) 2011 Howard McQueen

You and I, we have an evolutionary opportunity to learn to intentionally over-ride and re-interpret our fear-based survival programming.

When we are terrified, we can be so closed down as to be petrified.  No doubt, this is an ancient self-preservation technique - staying hunkered down in the presence of great danger.

Test pilots develop a level of split focus, staying cool enough to report the reality of chaos and malfunction of their aircraft as they almost certainly plummet to their death.  

As you and I sit in our own test pilot seats, when we become fearful and/or shut down, we can create another level of awareness that can independently witness and report on our experience.  This independent reference point allows us to consciously create a quantum shift in our relationship with our life experiences.

You and I are the quantum interpreters, the test pilots of our life.

Now, imagine the amount of energy you will be able to harness and redirect as you learn to override all the imagined and manufactured programming stimulated by your survival programming.

;-)   ~ |||  ~

© 2011 Howard McQueen

Being firm and gentle,

 being fierce and at peace,

 being Yin and Yang.

When facing a choice between OR & AND,

 seek the wisdom and liberation of AND 

If you hold the paradoxes of the world within,

 you will grow your perspectives

 to encompass all of the human condition.

Then, there is no longer judgment

 AND there becomes understanding, compassion and love

 for all who struggle with the entrapments of our conditionings.

~ *** ~ ||| 

From the Don Miguel Ruiz Daily Email Archives

Miracles happen when you forgive. You are born with the capacity to forgive, but you learn the opposite behavior. You learn not to forgive, you practice not to forgive. When you learn to let go of your pride and ask for forgiveness, miracles start to happen in your life.

(c) 2011 Howard McQueen

When sex is chased after as an intoxicant,

 the practicing of sex energies self-inflicted addictions.

When sex is expressed as a celebration of union,

 body, mind and spirit are reunited

 as an expression of healing and integration.

The physical, emotional and energetic bodies,

 are flushed, rinsed and washed clear.

Sex can be practiced in so many ways,

with so many outcomes.

May you be so fortunate to find in your expression of sex,

the celebration of union.

(C) 2011 Howard McQueen

Yesterday afternoon I crawled into bed

 feeling like all my friends and family had died.

Not quite knowing it, I came to realize

that I felt, deeply, situationally depressed.

I felt this in my eyes,

as a deeply draining vacuum,

sucking the life out of my vision for a future,

without any room or possibility

for any joie de vivre.

Back into this moment,

this time around

the inner voice of intuition asks of me

  "when have you ever felt like this (before)?"

And the answer within returns

 "About ten years ago, 

  when my wife, at-that-time

  was diagnosed as clinically depressed

  and I followed suit and became situationally depressed."

Like cloudy weather,

circumstances in our life are bound and determined to repeat,

offering us the opportunity to intentionally make a choice.

Do we follow at the beck and call of surface circumstances?

I choose to get out of bed and make myself a cup of caffeinated chai.

As I walk past my now current wife,

who had fifteen minutes ago, with a worried look, tucked me into bed,

she asks

  "What was it contributed to your abrupt about-face and turn-around?"

We both talk through all the stressor-triggers

currently running within our life circumstances,

and we realize these for what they really are - just surface conditions.

We both agree to work through what lie underneath these

and know that life will flow on

and our love will grow,

and deepen,

as these surface conditions shift and change and dissove

and fall away.