​It's late winter. A time of waiting for the ice to melt, the ground to thaw, the earth to bloom again. If we have allowed for the work of winter, our waiting time, we are so much richer for it. We have changed just as the earth has. We will again be flowering into our new lives. We will be full with expectation and possibilities. We will know ourselves more deeply. 

May blessings be upon each of us and upon our winter of waiting with all its gifts!

While the moon is swimming upside down under the lake
and all the fishes sprout feet to walk on the surface of the sky
and the wind, which is still, picks me up and whirls me round and round beyond earth,
I grab for the nearest branches and cling to a safe haven for now
and here I wait for Badger to fly close enough for me to hitch a ride on her back
and travel with her deep deep down to the roots at the center of home.  
               -pab 2/2021-
 
     
     Have you noticed that we’re all playing “Follow the Leader?”  The leader may run then stop suddenly, reverse direction, skip a few steps, hop, or jump sideways. We never know what he or she will do next and that’s the fun of the game. We love the unpredictable nature of it.  When we are children, the game is so innocent.
 
     But this is not such an innocent game for adults. We are now living in times of great chaos on many fronts. We eagerly consume our daily dose of the news and choose whom we will follow whether or not that leader knows the facts and tells us the truth. Then when enough followers fall in line, it’s easy to now follow the crowd at the tremendous cost of believing a leader and a crowd who may not have done their own research to uncover the truth. When we do begin to question and give no credence to others until we have discovered as much as we possibly can, we may receive harsh criticism or pointed exclusion.
 
     I am reminded of these words from the song, The Great Mandala:
             ‘ Take your place on the Great Mandala
               as it moves through your brief moment of time,
               win or lose now, you must choose now,
               and if you lose you’re only losing your life.’
 
     Are we choosing to follow the leader? Or to sort through all the chaos and confusion and be still for a minute? Can you trust your own heart, your own knowing to guide you? My answer is Yes! You can and must trust yourself! We have a long line of ancestors informing our knowing and intuition. They can be trusted to guide us “in the way of truth.”