Category: Be Alive

Trajectory

I’ve been thinking a lot about trajectory. So, I took a moment to look up the word. “The path of a flying object moving under the action of given forces”. In Latin, it roughly translates to “throw across”. I found this over simplification rather boring and so I read on about the trajectory of life. It referred to the overall path one’s life is taking, with an emphasis on cumulative choices and experiences that can be intentionally guided or altered.

Now that’s more like it. Intentionally guided choices, not the throw of the dice take-what-comes theory of life. But the reminder that our relationship to life’s experiences, however harmful, however elated, can be altered by our choice. That I am not a victim to circumstance; I have the free will to perceive and the gift of conscious choice to steer my trajectory. And while I may not be able to alter the external, I most definitely can choose the path of my soul.  

How I think and what I choose to give my attention to is my hidden power. And once I arrive at my knowing about any given subject, it’s my duty to preserve my compass and maintain the chosen trajectory of my life. It is my duty and my responsibility to hold the course of the Good within me. And that need not have words, nor does it need to be seen. 

Today confusion challenges us. We’re easily motivated by consumptive greed and fall prey to power and the seemingly powerful. And in doing so we forgo the discernment that is gifted to us at birth. 

Be clear about your goal. And do everything you can to keep it in line with your highest possibility. It is available to you.

The good news is while it’s easy to get lost; it is as easy to right ourselves. Seek wisdom within. Choose your trajectory wisely.

As I looked for images of trajectories, arrows and such, I came across this little image and the author was “youth hostel” and they gave it freely “to the world”. Whoever you are, thank you. We share a similar trajectory. It captures my piece precisely. Even the smile.

Warriors of Love

Take time for the stillness in your heart. As we emerge from a year of brutal cruelty, we must take stock of our strengths. This battle is not over. Our humanity is not lost. We have been silent for too long, complicit with a status quo that never cherished our individuality, never championed our gifts. This is a time to draw upon the wisdom born of compassion and empathy. It’s not a time to cower in fear. This is our moment to rediscover the gratitude for the life we have been given; and to hone the courage needed to repel the ignorance devouring us. 

Doubt is not our friend. As we engage in a world corrupted by greed and poisoned with artificial truths, we must shake off indifference. We must become Warriors of Love. 

In honor of those who came before us, with all of their hopes and dreams for our better world and for those who will come after us, we must fight. 

Fight using the weapons we already hold: clarity, discernment, choice. History has repeated itself, because we have allowed it. But in that history, there has been a singular vision that has triumphed again and again. That vision is the possibility of peace. Not a ‘pie in the sky’ peace. It is a fundamental part of who we are and have always been. More of us are needed to cherish and cultivate it.

The ignorant laugh, but in truth the external power used to curtail us is nothing compared to what we carry – when we choose to deploy. 

Deploy love and kindness. Help one another. We’ve got this. 

WELCOME 2026!

Watch You Are In Charge – with the encouraging words of Prem Rawat

Be Amazed

I’m not a fan of amusement parks. I was a child with my father by my side on what I think was the only roller coaster ride of my life. I didn’t mind the bumper cars, I suspect it had something to do with maintaining some semblance of control. The tilt a whirl did me in. And I hunch this early loathing of what others seemingly enjoyed was a precursor of what would drive my life’s choices. I am willing to try things once, but if that once tells me it is not for me, so be it. 

And that, my friends, is the basis of discernment. From what I can tell the ability to choose is absent for too many of us today. Some people love to be dazzled by facts. And, if we are not clear about what is essential, as the facts spin, we spin with them. Some people are addicted to winning; it doesn’t matter in what form. But the gamble that comes from not knowing what is ultimately precious has given rise to greed. 

Some of us have danced with the devil and have learned how devastating that can be. Knowing your potential for doing harm is a powerful gift. It can help us remember there is another dance waiting for us. Choosing to not harm is a good starting point. 

This time of winter, of drawing inward, of contemplating new beginnings can open us to a whole new way of being, a whole new dance. We have learned the ways of external power. We are witness to its cruelty. It will be a decisive victory when we choose to walk away from this vacancy of humanity and embrace our full and powerful potential.

Hone the skills of being human. Open the gifts that have been with us since birth.

Be amazed.

Dignity: Tap Into It

Dignity. The word has been with us in Latin and French since the 13th century. It was used to exalt human characteristics of moral and ethical uprightness. We’ve celebrated our dignitaries and, as we have the tendency to do, emulated the trappings of those we believed qualified to carry the term. We acknowledged status, but this is a far more superficial understanding of what it means to hold dignity, or to be a dignified human being.

The Enlightenment brought the understanding of treating human beings with respect and recognized dignity to be an inalienable right. In 1948, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’ And while this marked a major milestone in human evolutionary thought, little has changed in the ways we’ve treated one another or have allowed others of us to be treated.

In fact, when you dive into the word (as Frederick Douglas did) it becomes apparent that political, legal and scientific scholars are ambiguous about the term. Dignity is largely left undefined.

But this is when the true meaning of dignity can emerge; when people cannot agree to a definition because the term cannot be encapsulated. Dignity cannot be caught in the trappings of language, and not in the mindset of intellectualism.

Dignity must be felt. Each of us has the right to claim and manifest the inherent dignity that lies within – which no one can take away and no law can circumvent. 

It is our right and duty to manifest dignity. But first we must tap into it. Be courageous. Be human.

The photo is of my Diné friend and mentor who lived “Walk in Beauty”

“The soul that is within me no man can degrade.” Frederick Douglas

“No power on this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity.” Nelson Mandela

Prem Rawat on Realizing Your Potential as a Human Being

Choose to Defiantly Live

I watched a fly caught in a web. It was very much alive, but as it squirmed the tighter the web grew. It was easy to see its black body against the white ceiling. Then I could see the thin frame of a spider making its way to the captive. The fly became even more frantic spiraling and spinning wildly. Impressed at its willingness not to die, I wondered if I should give aid. And then another spider began to move in. Recognizing its determination to live, I attempted to free the fly, but it was out of reach. As the two approaching spiders neared their prey, the fly broke free and catapulted down. I couldn’t see where it landed, and I am pretty sure it would be difficult to unweave the binding web. But I cheered for the sheer gumption displayed and the determination I witnessed. And then I realized I appreciated this defiant will to live because it is within me, within all of us. 

Some of us die in increments, leaving bits of ourselves to decay in full view and forsaking the gift of life to the torments of living. We admire the courage to live in others, but do we ever acknowledge this will, this strength in ourselves? Do we accept this gift of will, or do we squander it?

Some of us die by compromise. Piece by piece we give ourselves away, never knowing the preciousness of the time we are given.  Never accepting the power of our uniqueness. Never truly living.

We carry seeds of hope, clarity, courage and humanity necessary to the whole of us. If only we would choose to defiantly live and escape the bondages that hold us. 

Accept the power of being alive. There is freedom in that. 

photo Dewy spider web: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en