It's a Pondering Time

 

It's a pondering time in my world.  What about you?  There is SO much happening.  There are SO many distressing events.  There is SO little lack of consensus as to what needs to change.  It is heart wrenching.  It is stomach turning.  It is mind blowing.  And for the soul--it is time to come forth out of obscurity and shine some light into this world.  

Yes, this is deep time.  And deep time is Soul Time.  This is not a time to despair however.  It is a time to dig deep and to reach for the better part of us that we DO have.  The surface "Me" is not going to suffice.  Are you prepared to ponder?

Whatever your faith tradition or your belief system, or your nothing at all system, it might be a great time to ponder.  What in the world is happening?  Maybe we can forget the why part for now.  "What" might be a good start. It's pretty clear here in the United States that we are pretty divided in our opinions on our current situation.  And it's not just those we dislike that see things differently, it's our friends and our family.  Close to the bone you might say.  Which can make it even more painful.

One thing I consistently cling to is the realization that people I love and care about may see things very differently than me.  Because I love and care about them, it is important for me to listen deeply to what they say.  It may be that I can, at the very least, tap into the core of their understanding of events or issues.  I may still disagree but I don't demonize them or post things that would do so.

Naturally, I would hope they might return this favor.  Maybe that's why I post this today.  Perhaps, by reading this, a few more people will stop and ponder.  Where is the connection?  What might be the thread that runs through these times that can bring us back to a sense of common courtesy?   Is it important for me to stop before I post, to ponder and consider, to take a brief second and make sure I am not labeling others as the enemy, when it is very clear they are not.

This is a pondering time.  As we move forward every day to some new choice before us, or some decision we must make, I ask that we stop, consider that which we sign our name to, and move forward ONLY when we trust this is for our betterment, our personal and the collective good.  These simple steps can move us in the right direction.  No more demonizing others simply because their assessment of things is different from our own.  

NO, it doesn't mean to give up your cherished stance, but it may mean that you ponder another's.  If both people speak deeply and sincerely, without the need to be right or on top, there will be some, even if only a slight amount, of "give".  We may disagree on the big things but it seems to me that in the way  that we speak to each other there can be consensus.  And in that, perhaps we all find common ground.

It's my prayer we start today.  We can do this together.  Now.

In love,

Your Soul Catalyst, Verna

In These Times - A Fire Drill for the Soul

Well, here we are.  Nearing the end of another coronavirus month.  Who would have thought that coronavirus would become an adjective rather than just a noun?  Not me.  But today I realized that's how I was thinking these days.  There is nothing in my thinking, it seems, that isn't colored by this.  I sigh and imagine a time in the near future when I won't have to worry about it.  And I am sobered by the thought that this may not happen...especially in the near future.

So, given this, what do I have to share, what tools might help us through? What can Integrative Wisdom offer?

What I 'd like to share is the risk I took to add my voice to a video that was created by Andy Grammer for his performance on the July 4th CNN special.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.  As I worked to uncover what I don't give up on, the underlying most important value was integrity.  And so, check out the clip to see what I wrote.  I still can't believe I was on TV...  🎯

But, really most importantly is the encouragement to show up as a positive presence in the lives of those you most care for and perhaps for the larger community as well.  We can learn to enter into dialogue, be respectful, disagree, but keep working to make things better.  That is true soul work, work we are here to do.

It's like this time we currently live in is giving us a run for our money.  It's like a fire drill for our soul and we have to determine what the steps are to keep that deepest, truest, most complete part of ourselves just that.  Pretending everything is ok is not the way to go.  Neither is giving up and throwing in the towel.  We are in this, hook, line, and sinker as the fisherpeople say...

With that in mind, 

What is your healing practice?  What are you doing to care for YOU?  Please don't ignore you.

I have been very busy building up a library of healing content.  A video a day, Monday through Friday.  They are all on my YouTube Channel here.  The latest: Today's Office View cause today as I write this, it's Monday!  Topics are as follows:

Monday: Today's office View

Tuesday: Integrative Wisdom

Wednesday: Soul Catalyst Card Deck Day

Thursday: Elders Who Care

Friday:  Recap Friday

I hope you will stop by and watch and feel inspired, empowered, encouraged, or just plain educated on some form or fashion of Integrative Wisdom.

There is one other story I'd like to share with you.  Those who know me, know I always tell the story of being such a shy child.  I have shared that I realize I am not really so shy anymore, but shyness and fear of being judged harshly is still in my DNA.  I just don't let it run me around anymore.  In that spirit, I'd like to share one of the braver things I did this month.

Better Times Will Come by Janis Ian

It was fun.  And I even got to message with Ms. Janis!  

Lastly, for this post, I can share that the guidebook to the cards has had its final approval!  Soon it will be all printed, bound, and delivered here to The Center of Creative Transformation.  Let me know how many copies you would like.  They will make great gifts for all those adults you most care for!

Don't worry if you aren't ready to order yet.  You know I will be sharing this amazing project often.

As I prepare to say good-bye for now, please take a moment to really stop and assess how you are doing.  Please take steps to practice self care as well as listen in to your soul.  Put some healing practices in place now.  

Remember Integrative Wisdom is here to help.  I am glad to say the Community of Care service is going well.  If you are interested, just gather a few of your closest friends or family members and give me a call.  It's an amazing deal.  $10 a person for that hour Zoom meeting as long as there are 4 participants registered.  

You can email me at vernalwhispers@msn.com too.

If you are ready for your own private healing session, you can email or go to the website and fill in the form.

www.integrativewisdom.org 

With great respect and love,

Your Soul Catalyst,

Verna

You've Got to Be Kidding

OMG.  There has to be a mistake somewhere.  It absolutely cannot be the next to the last day of June!  No.  Simply no way.  It's June 29th???  That is just crazy.  I feel like time is racing by.  And then, on the other hand, with the sameness of each social distancing day, it sometimes seems like time is standing still.  Maybe that's why I haven't written one blog entry this whole month.  Yikes!  So glad I got my act together before July hit.

Ok, got it together.  Now, what to write about?  What is there to say about our world today?  Not much going on, right?  OK, so I'm a joker.  We are living in epic times.  We are on the brink of great potential.  That, at least, is how I choose to see it.  Yes, so much has broken wide open, so much has fallen apart, and so much is changing.  But, when we look deeply, we see that things have been rotten, deeply rotten, for a very long time.  We, dear friends, have been living a bit of a lie.

I am reading this impossible book by one of my mentors, Stephen Jenkinson.  It's called Come of Age and it's a doozy.  Stephen is one of those writers that intrigues the imagination and calls the reader to dig deep.  I'm sure there are those who try to read his work and throw the book down, say a few choice words, and get on with their day.  Yes, he's that challenging.  But he has captured my heart and I am continuing to work to learn from him.  And he has a lot to say about the times we live in.  Here's a review.

One of the outcomes of reading this has been to change Integrative Wisdom Elder Care Coaching & Consulting to "Elders Who Care".  I am realizing I hope to be an elder when I grow old, not just grow old.  If you are interested in following along, you can join in the conversation on the FB page.  In times of great social upheaval, having wise leaders goes a long way in riding the waves of fear and emotional distress.  We seem to be in short supply of wise leaders these days.  Maybe you will want to work to be one.  Maybe you will want to be a voice to help as we navigate these rough waters, helping us get to the other side.

In my personal corner of the world, changes are coming to my neighborhood.  We live in a rural area and we have been spoiled by view like the one in the photo.  While I am aware we don't own the land that is currently being developed, I am also aware that I have an opinion about what is being torn down and what will be built up.  It's out of my hands to change what is happening.  What is in my power is how I will greet the change.  Of course the wisdom comes from knowing what we do have power over and then having the courage to act.  Yep, just like the Serenity Prayer! It is my humble opinion that these times are giving us lots of opportunities to flex our Wisdom Wings.

Ooh, Wisdom Wings.  I like it.  Never wrote those two words together before.  But I am running with it.  Dear Reader, let's try on a pair.  Let's take the wise road.  Let's soar together as we find ways to rebuild a nation that really lives its motto...cause we haven't yet.  But I have hope that we can.  With a new cadre of Elders Who Care, with the rising of our young who call us to be honest, to remove the blinders we've been wearing for hundreds of years, and by beating our Wisdom Wings, we got this!  Our future is bright.  And honest.  And it is time to come of age.  

In Service, 

Your Soul Catalyst Verna

Dare We Go Back to Sleep

In times like these...

The human heart can go the lengths of God… [ A Sleep of Prisoners ]

Dark and cold we may be, but this

Is no winter now. The frozen misery

Of centuries breaks, cracks, begins to move;

The thunder is the thunder of the floes,

The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring.

Thank God our time is now when wrong

Comes up to face us everywhere,

Never to leave us till we take

The longest stride of soul men ever took.

Affairs are now soul size.

The enterprise is exploration into God.

Where are you making for? It takes

So many thousand years to wake…

But will you wake, for pity’s sake?

Christopher Fry

As we say good bye to another month, the merry month of May, things seems so far from ever being merry again.  Struggle after struggle has come to greet us.  While we have tried and tried again to keep putting one foot in front of the other, it has not been easy.

In one way or another, perhaps we are being shaken awake, reminded we are not to go back to sleep, that the time has come for big change and not band-aids.  Perhaps this awakening is meant to help us find our way home, back to our true selves, and not these complacent, tepid versions.

Are we On the Brink?

No more excuses.  No more yearning to go back to the "way things were".  No more sidestepping all our brokenness.  We are poised on the brink...and it is only by a fearless examination of all our deeply cherished beliefs might we find the real truth of the house of cards we have been living in for so long.  Why don't we choose to wake up and stop pretending everything is ok.  It's not and it hasn't been for a long time.  The breaking down can be the start of a building up.  What shall we build?

Leaving behind everything gives us such a clean slate.  So, if you had that option and you were designing our next phase, what would you be sure to add to the mix?  Kindness, honesty, compassion, fairness, prosperity for all...

What?  Why don't we, upon waking to a new month, wake up and stay awake.  Let's take the steps we need to take.  Let's define this new slate, our new society, the one we really do long for when we are not experiencing fear, and hate, and envy and all the other emotions that lead us down a dark path.  

When we are awake, we have knowledge of that deepest, truest part of ourselves, our souls.  From there we can hold steady, resist temptations, and take the steps necessary to ensure that our elected officials to do the same.  It's no longer ok for self interests to call the shots.  Not for any of us.  

We are part of a collective that must stand together, even with different ways of seeing the world.  Basic human rights; yes back to the basics may be the first step. We have been feeling the tug of the heart string that binds us together.  That is not a bad thing.  It is waking us up.  

Here's to eyes wide open...from the soul.

In This Epic Time - The Best Day

Here's something to ponder:

This day is the best day of your life.

It's the only one you've got.

So...

You better do it Right!

VJF

Now that we've got that over with, here comes the big question:  How would you know you got "it" right?  What is it that identifies a day done right?  Do you have any clue?  Is it always the same?  Some interesting questions don't you think?  To make things even less clear, what if what you thought you knew about what a best day consists of became less certain?  What if you suddenly began to question your routines, your day to day practices?  How might that make you feel?  What might you think?

Here's a Meditation Fitting this Quandary:

In this Epic Time

In this epic time, who are you becoming?

In this epic time, with every passing day...

In this epic time,

with every new fear

every new challenge

every new loss

every new emotional hit

In this epic time, who are you becoming:

As you

Release

Let go

Fight to hold on

Discern the difference

Freeze in confusion

Do you believe it's in Your Power to:

Choose the outcome?

Determine the course?

In this epic time,

we may be unique in the lens of history.

In other epic times,

it wasn't seen as epic

Until it was over

And then it was identified as

Epic. 

We, in the age of information

are very aware.

We are 

told cajoled reminded warned 

of our undoing

Every. Single. Day.

Is this the best day?

In this epic time,

We sense the change

We see the waves of unrest

We feel the dis-ease

It is held deep in our bones.

Then, there are the whispers,

the voices to remind us

Maybe the best day is still to come.

Maybe what we see as lost

Is really Opportunity

In this Epic Time.

In this epic time,

might we listen to those who encourage us,

who remind us to seek our best day,

new possibilities for all,

to let go of the frayed edges of our tattered world 

And...

Claim a NEW Best Day.

And, so in this epic time:

Where do you find yourself?

Longing to return to the days of old?

Or...

Energized for the new road ahead?

And so, as we reach the end of this blog post, here's to you and to your best day.  It is my sincere hope that this meditation has given you food for this journey and inspiration as well.

Love,

Your Soul Catalyst, Verna

With Adversity Comes Fortitude and Support

Remember that old Chinese saying, "May you live in interesting times"?  Well, dang if we don't!  Just about every aspect of our lives has taken a beating.  We have been faced with challenges from every angle.  And we are faced with the dilemma of determining how we will move forward, not only in the short term, but in the long run as well.

Our very humanity is being called into question.  There are those, who pushed to the end of their ropes are advocating violence.  There are those, who faced with such tremendous struggles are facing deep depression and anxiety.  Each of us is being asked how we want to respond.  And, each of us may or may not have the tools it will take to be that best version of ourselves.

Integrative Wisdom has advocated since the beginning for personal wellness practices to help us navigate times such as these, although I never imagined this particular scenario.  And yet, I am happy to say that our tools are indeed made for times like these.

I am grateful to say that there are several ways we are here for you.  I hope you will consider the ways you might find solace, support and encouragement by joining in one or more of the offerings.

In the last post, I shared the latest meditation on Insight Timer called Beacon of Light.  I am waiting for notification that my submission, A Litany of Loss, has also been approved.  I will let you know in the next post.  There are over a dozen Integrative Wisdom meditations now.  Please use them whenever you find yourself needing a moment of respite.

In the last post, I also shared my weekly video schedule.  These are uploaded to my You Tube Channel as well as my FB pages.  Offering information, inspiration, and tips on creating a wellness practice, all the videos are fairly short and can fit into even the busiest person's schedule.

What I am offering anew is a fee based service.  While Integrative Wisdom always offers changing of the season gatherings here at The Center of Creative Transformation,

currently with social distancing, that is just not an option.  Yet it is still important to honor the shift in a formal way.  What I am proposing however, are a few more sustainable options.  

Option One "Community of Care"

It is my pleasure to offer gatherings using Zoom.  If you have your own group of peers you would like to participate with, set your own day and time.  Smaller groups of about 5 or less will give everyone a chance to speak and to receive personalized attention.  Each person will be asked to pay $10 for the hour.  You can send it via Pay Pal, Zelle or mail.  I will trust you to make the payment.

Option Two "My Time"

For those who would like their own hour, we can arrange those sessions as well.  These will work well for specific situations or challenges you are experiencing.  Having an hour of dedicated time will allow us to be sure you know exactly what practices or tools you want to use to build your healing muscles.  The fee for this service is $60.  Again, I trust you to send the payment via one of the above options.

Also, the Soul Catalyst Card Deck and Guidebook are almost ready for pricing.  I will let you know as soon as the guidebook is completed and everything is priced.  I am loving doing the Wednesday reading with the cards.  I am hoping you will love them as much as I do.

The Soul Catalyst Card Deck

It is my deepest hope that Integrative Wisdom can make a difference during these adverse times.  I hope you will consider partaking of one or more of our healing practices.  During the years I have noticed that seeking wisdom is not always our top priority and in times such as these, it is even more challenging as we are often struggling just to get by.  

Which way will YOU go?

We have a greater vision.  We want much more for you.  We want you to rise up into your best self and feel strong and centered and well.  Integrative Wisdom was made for times like these.  Over twenty years in the making.  Now is the time.  Wisdom has come of age.  May you partake of its gifts in your own life ever more fully.

Sending you love and hugs from a safe distance,

Your Soul Catalyst,

Verna

A Shining Star

I wrote a poem today.  It's a poem to encourage me to move, to not get stuck or bogged down by life, whether that's mine or someone else's.  To reach out, to risk, to speak up, to trust in the big picture, all the while enjoying the journey!  So, I share it with you today, hoping you may receive your own inspiration as you read.  

A Shining Star

This incarnation of ME

Has reminded me of the Life of a Star

Shining brightly in the sky.

From very far away,

I seem small and insignificant.

It is when you move in close that the

Magnificence is made manifest.

The power and the Heat,

The Radiance Revealed.

Let me live the month of May,

At the very least, this one month

As the star I was born to be.

Let me reveal the depth and the strength

And the mystery of my gifts

To the Glorious Galaxy

That surrounds us all.

I Choose to Move, to Reach Out and to Enjoy

ME as Star, bursting with Light

Sharing, Not stopping Until

ALL the Heat of ME

Is completely used up…

By

Verna J. Fisher

May 6, 2019

How’s your starlight shining these days?  Are you taking the time to notice?  Only you can create the conditions to allow your light to shine.  What do you need to do today to turn on that love light?  Are you ready?  What’s stopping you?  Here’s to taking the steps to break out of the darkness and into YOUR light.  Your Star Light.  We need your light now. 

Furthermore...

Don't forget Integrative Wisdom is available for personalized coaching by phone or in person here at The Center of Creative Transformation.  Taking time to focus, to ask the important questions, and to listen to the responses goes a long way in helping us get to where we want to go in this life.  I'm here to assist you.  

Also, The Soul Catalyst cards are coming along.  So many details involved to birth such a baby.  I appreciate your love and your prayers and support as this comes into being.  Stay tuned for ways to help if you are so moved.