Medicine Walk

“In Native American Tradition, medicine is anything that will aid the seeker in feeling more connected and in harmony with nature and all life-forms. Anything that is healing to the body, mind, and/or spirit is Medicine. To find a special Medicine that would give answers for a personal challenge or problem, our Ancestors would often walk in the forests or on the mesas to observe the portents or signs that would assist them in healing and seeking wisdom.” (Source: Sacred Path Cards, page 5, by Jamie Sams with Illustrations by Linda Childers)

My spiritual practice includes Medicine Walks (sometimes these are runs). On recent Medicine outings, I’ve attracted lots and lots of bird energy! Have you ever been swooped? Well, I have…….birds are swooping me big time! This is the first June in recent memory where I’ve been repeatedly grazed by birds flying in front, over, and across my body. It’s like these beautifully fragile creators are inviting me to dance and play with them. Or maybe I’m on a hidden camera TV show and these birds are nothing more than battery-powered robots…..Nah.

If you’ve never tried a Medicine Walk, I highly recommend its restorative power. Try one and let me know how it goes.

Witness Trees

Monday, I had the good fortune to be in the field with a former land surveyor. We were practicing navigation using GPS units. No matter how much time I spend in my beloved Rocky Mountain National Park, I continue to learn new things about its natural wonders.

As we located surveyor land monuments from 1925, we also came across Witness Trees. This was the first time I became aware of their existence and purpose. On many public lands, especially in the western US, land surveyors blazed trees recording their positions relative to section corners. If the surveyor’s monument was destroyed or removed from an area, these Witness Trees can be used to pinpoint the corner location.

Out of curiosity I googled “Witness Trees” and came across an interesting web site that you should checkout. It contains information about a Documentary IMAX Film on Witness Trees. In this case the focus is on Arborglyphs or markings etched into trees (rather than letters or numbers being etched into the belly of the tree). Be sure to watch the slideshow of Sandy Corley’s Witness Tree installations. Click here to go to http://www.witnesstrees.org

New Beginnings

My mom was a unique woman of impeccable integrity, unparalleled strength, boundless enthusiasm and endless compassion. She was the sort of woman who could relate to people of all backgrounds without compromising her ideals. And, no matter what happened - somehow, even in the darkest hours of her greatest challenges, she always moved forward with her heart wide open.

I’ve been thinking about my mom often these past few months. She’d be proud of how I lifted us out of our slum into a respectable home. This is definitely a new beginning, a new home-base as well as a new cast of characters. Left behind is the Old cast of characters: "Mr. BB-Gun", "the creepy guy" and the "potheads".

Today we move forward with our hearts wide open ... enjoying our newly-earned surroundings. Yup ... this is a new beginning, catapulting ourselves into a nurturing place where we can recharge, renew, and ready for our next adventure.

Carpe Diem!