Wisdom from a Coffee Cup

I found these words of wisdom from poet Desi Di Nardo on this morning’s Starbucks cup…

The Way I See It #293

The way I see it
Isn’t necessarily
The way you see it
Or the way it is
Or ought to be
What’s more important
Is that we’re all
Looking for it
And a way to see it

The Beaver's Message

“What’s that in the pasture?”

I looked to my right as we drove down the gravel road to the barn, my attention drawn in the direction of Rich’s question.

I didn’t know. It looked like a small deer or a dog, lying in the brown grass, probably dead. While Rich began the afternoon feeding, I walked alone up pasture to solve the mystery. What I found brought me to tears.

It was the body of a large, dead beaver, lying at least 30 feet from the creek. She was on her back, and when I rolled her over, I noticed fresh blood coming from a hole by her ear. She probably hadn’t been dead for more than an hour, though I was sure she’d suffered far longer than that. Some one, somewhere along the creek, shot her in the head and left her for dead. She must have followed the creek to the ford where our horses cross into the upper pasture, and she made an agonizing crawl onto land to a place where we’d notice her.

I reached my hand down to touch her, stroking her fur, tears brimming in my eyes as I apologized over and over for the stupidity of humans, for their cruelty. All animals die, I know, but they don’t need to suffer as this beaver obviously did.

She was enormous, perhaps 60 pounds or more. This was a beautiful, elder beaver – a longtime caretaker and nurturer of the area’s wetlands. I wondered, given the circumstances of her death, how she managed to make it into this horse pasture … and why.

Rich joined me and we held hands, looking over her body. Rich was so angry. True, my husband is a hunter, but he respects life and doesn’t kill needlessly. We eat what he brings home and he prays for the animal spirits who provide us with their meat and skins.

Standing over this beaver, we made a decision to take her home and honor her in the Old Way. We made an offering and said our prayers for her spirit; we took her home and offered tobacco and sage.

Again, I wondered why she’d come to us. I think, in part, her spirit traveled and knew that we’d find her and treat her respectfully – that we’d honor her life and sing her over. We’d keep her skin to remember her. Also I think she offered herself as a messenger for us.

What is the message of the Beaver? As one of nature’s finest architects, much of what Beaver teaches is about foundational work, flow and harmony. She goes about her building industriously, with an eye to the larger scheme of things. Left to her own devices, she changes the flow of water, the flow of energy around her, for the benefit of all. She creates balance in our rivers and wet places. Spiritually, this is also the balance and flow of our emotions.

It came to me the next morning, in a place between sleep and waking, that her message for me is very much about attending to my own foundation. This beaver appeared in the pasture where my horses live, and the foundation of my work with the horses has recently been in personal question.

I’ve realized that the people I accepted as role models, while doing their own valued brand of teaching, don’t share my personal philosophies. We aren’t coming from the same place, and by modeling them, I’ve come to understand that I haven’t been true to my own heart and direction. The result is that, standing on shaky ground, I haven’t grown, nor have I been inspired to move my life work forward in positive ways.

My work with horses isn’t simply a job to me. It resonates in every way in my life, sending ripples through all of my relationships. In partnership with horses, I’m able to explore the Circle in deeper, more meaningful ways, and I’m able to share this gift with others. I can’t simply duplicate some one else’s business model, or copy the practices that I don’t, at heart, agree with. I have to go back to square one and re-build. I began to understand this several weeks ago. The beaver’s appearance in my life was a powerful reminder and a catalyst for much-needed change.
So, as I venture into the New Year, I go deeper into my own foundational work, re-focus, re-write, re-structure, creating a balanced base. I change the flow within me and around me in ways that help me to stand in my own power and that will benefit others.

Megwitch (thank you) to the Beaver for her life and spirit and for the messages she brings, which I’m sure will continue to unfold with greater meaning as I move forward in the coming months …

Celebration and Release

“Kick up your heels and release joy.”

On most mornings I draw a card from an inspirational deck called Touched by a Horse by Melinda Pearce. Every time I read a card’s message, I’m reminded of something that perhaps I’ve forgotten to look at or could put into action in my life.

Today’s reading is “Celebration and Release” ~ an encouragement to celebrate the small successes in life rather than looking at the larger goals to be achieved.

As the card reminds me, “The lesson here is about the power of the collective, smaller victories that must be expressed…” as I move through Life’s Journey.

So, what are the little things I can celebrate today?

The “Maintenance Required” light in my car is NOT an indication of impending disaster, but simply a reminder to get my oil changed. Wow! What a relief!

The call from our veterinarian assured me that my dog’s blood tests were clear. No major health issues. After a few days of worry, this was amazing news.

The weather couldn’t be more beautiful ~ cool and sunny. I celebrate the change of seasons.

Planning for my upcoming workshop is a daily joy. New ideas, collaboration with other people and the incredible reward of sharing this work with a group … all of this fills me with a wonderful sense of excitement. Each step toward the event is an affirmation.

Every small success is a victory and a validation.

What small successes can you celebrate today?

What to Expect from "Living the Circle ..."

Several people have expressed interest in the October workshop, titled Living the Circle: An Exploration of Our Relationships with Creator, the Earth and Each Other. They’ve asked some wonderful questions, one of which is “What is this all about?”

So, to clarify a few things, I thought I’d take a few minutes to share what participants can expect from this workshop.

First, the program involves Equine Guided Education and Coaching. For those who are unfamiliar with this kind of personal growth and learning, the process partners people with horses in activities that are designed to help people connect with their own answers, their own Truth, their own values.

This is an experiential learning process with horses acting as guides or teachers. In other words, as we interact with the horses, insights will surface that relate to other parts of our lives. We’re able to gain different perspectives through these interactions and apply the lessons to daily life.

What can horses teach us? By nature these animals have finely tuned instincts. In a herd or alone, they are acutely aware of their environment at all times; of the subtle shifts in the energy around them. When they’re around people, they respond to our energy and to the shifts within us.

Horses can’t lie or fake their emotions, but they certainly know when we’re faking it! Humans have a tendency to wear “masks.” We may project one emotion when we’re feeling something completely different inside. Horses respond to how we’re truly feeling. So, if we’re all smiles on the outside but feeling anger or grief inside, horses sense the incongruity. They respond to our authentic feelings. Their “feedback” is honest and non-judgmental. This gift allows us to learn more about ourselves, to see our attitudes and behaviors from a different angle, and to re-connect with our authentic selves.

As coaches, Dawn Sanborn and I acknowledge that horses are equal partners in the learning experience. She and I are present to support people learning from horses. We’ll set the activities in motion and allow participants to explore what each experience means on a personal level. We’ll encourage people to expand the lessons beyond the self to reflect on the larger community, to the Earth and to Creator. On occasion, we’ll step in to make inquiries which lend themselves to developing greater awareness during the experience. Otherwise, we get out of the way and let the horses do their work!

Within the context of this workshop, we’ll explore the Circle of Life with horses as our guides. The activities will echo aspects of the Medicine Wheel, beginning in the East and following the path of the sun to the North. Each direction offers us different lessons. Each activity will give participants an opportunity to explore their own Journeys.

There is no riding or training involved. All activities with horses are done on the ground and no horse experience is necessary. We simply ask that you come with an open heart and an open mind.

A traditional Native American Sweat Lodge will follow the workshop. Participants in the workshop will come together to help with lodge preparations and learn what is involved in the process. For people who have never participated in a Sweat Lodge, please go to http://www.manyhorses.org/ (click on the Sweat Lodge page) to learn more about this purification ceremony.

I’d like to take a minute to acknowledge a volunteer, Kate Staley, who’s stepped up to the plate to assist us with this workshop. Volunteers are so important. They invest their time and energy to ensure the day goes smoothly and that everyone gets the greatest benefit from the experience. So, if you come to Living the Circle, please remember to say thanks to Kate for all of her good work!

Also, a great big “Thanks!” in advance to Karen Wolfe and Barbara Morton for allowing us to use their property and to work with their wonderful horses.

To register for the workshop and get directions to this event (held in Bremen, GA) please feel free to get in touch. I can be reached via e-mail at mothercreekhorse@gmail.com

Blessings and Balance …

Nora

October workshop

Living the Circle:
An Exploration of Our Relationships
with Creator, the Earth and Each Other

Offered by
Nora Morbeck, Mother Creek Horse Coaching
and Dawn Sanborn, Outta the Barn


Date: Saturday, October 4, 2008
Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Place: Bremen, GA
Recommended Fee: $100 * ~ includes lunch, snacks & drinks

A Sweat Lodge will follow the workshop.


Notes: This workshop offers an opportunity to gain personal insights, to grow and learn in the company of horses, allowing these beautiful beings to reflect, to guide and to teach us on our journey into better understanding the inter-connectedness of life. Through individual and group activities with horses, participants are free to explore what Living the Circle means to them, how it’s expressed in the self, in family and in our larger community. No riding is involved. All activities are done on the ground. No horse experience is necessary.

About the Facilitators: Nora and Dawn are Equine Guided Educators and Coaches. Both women are graduates of the Wisdom Horse Coaching Apprenticeship program, based in Minneapolis. They bring their unique styles to this workshop, combining their skills and gifts to provide a wonderful, supportive learning experience.

What to bring: notebooks & pens for journaling, lawn chairs, a dish to share after the Sweat Lodge.

For more information, to register and to get directions, contact Nora at mothercreekhorse@gmail.com


* A reduced rate is available, upon request. Please note that there is no fee for the Sweat Lodge.

An Exploration of Procrastination

Cartoon by Dave Walker

Several years ago I facilitated a creativity group based on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. One week we came upon the concept of “perfectionism” and the author’s insights on how it impacts our lives and sabotages us. Until that point I hadn’t given much thought to the negative aspects of the word or how its meaning works on us.

Ms. Cameron describes perfectionism as a means of self-criticism. In attempting to be perfect we’re actually saying that we aren’t OK just as we are. We aren’t good enough. Nothing is ever good enough to the perfectionist. What happens to us when we subscribe to the “not good enough” mantra? I know what it does to me. It shuts me down. If I’m never going to be good enough, then what’s the point of trying?

That question led to an exploration of another word: procrastination. When I shut down I procrastinate. I associate all kinds of negative behaviors and words with procrastination. The list is comprised of adjectives like lazy, unmotivated, non-productive, and sedentary. I don’t accomplish anything. I distract myself from the activities that I could be doing to move myself forward in life. This is the negative consequence of procrastination.

Recently I’ve started to wonder how procrastination serves me. It must do something for me or I wouldn’t procrastinate. I wouldn’t cave in to the brain chatter that tells me my efforts won’t work or won’t be good enough.

All of us have those little voices – little Gremlins in the mind -- that comment and criticize our thoughts and actions. Why do I choose to listen to mine?

Then I had an epiphany. Procrastination keeps me safe. It doesn’t require me to take risks or rise to challenges. It doesn’t expose me to possible criticism or the chance that some one may disagree with me or not like me. It shields me from the possibility that some one might notice me – that they’ll see I’m not good enough. The procrastination Gremlin tells me, “Stay right where you are. Hide! No one will notice you and you won’t get hurt.”

Procrastination demands camouflage. Its attending Gremlin is the critic that reminds me to remain under cover.

Lately I’ve engaged this particular Gremlin in conversation. I begin by saying, “Thank you. I understand that you’re trying to keep me safe. For that I’m truly grateful. AND I’m going to move forward anyway…” I admit to myself that some actions are risky and balance that with the benefits of forward motion.

The Gremlin never turns off the caution light. It keeps blinking, but with less intensity and urgency. It serves as a reminder that I really could get hurt by taking risks. It’s OK for me to acknowledge that … AND I’m going to move forward anyway.

Be Yourself

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson