Perception

The subject of yesterday morning's newsletter from Anita Moorjani was "A Time to Be Mindful."

She wrote:
This morning, despite being overall quite well, I did start to notice my energy levels starting to go down from being "house bound" and not being able to go out with my friends, or road trips, or the beach or anywhere fun. This month, I was supposed to go to India to see my mom, but of course, that's been cancelled. That made me sad. In addition, even though we limit watching the news, I noticed that the local news channel we sometimes tune into just to check the weather and local protocols was bombarding viewers with all the panic-laden breaking news and the latest statistics! Previously, this local news channel has a tendency to introduce a lot of lightheartedness and lot of human interest segments but alas, that has changed for the time being so I'll only tune in for a few minutes each day. There's always the computer but there's a limit to the number of hours you can spend on social media or shows you can binge watch.

So, having decided enough is enough, I went up to Danny this morning, looked him square in the eye, put my hands on my hips, thrust my chin out and adamantly said to him "I have three things to say to you!" Danny tried very hard to look shocked, frightened and perplexed at the same time but couldn't really pull off any of them while - between sips of coffee, asking "what's up?"

I replied:

"Number one. I've decided I'm not going to see myself as part of a city wide lockdown - I'm taking the month of April off and I'm vacationing at home!

Number two. I'm going to start a new hobby during my vacation. I'm going to decorate one of the upstairs rooms and turn it into a meditation sanctuary and you're going to teach me how to put up shelves and curtains!

And number three. I'm making a Thai style coconut fish curry for dinner!"

I felt tingles and a shift happen within me.

After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December of 2006, I discovered the powerful transformative healing power of writing poetry. A few years ago I focused on writing my memoir and a Trilogy of Transformation was born. I started writing poetry again in the wake of this pandemic.

This morning this poem just flowed out of me:

Perception

Is the glass half full or empty
are you grateful you have a glass to fill?
Power lies in perception
shifting perception at will.
Do I see myself as a victim
or magical creator of life
trusting and faith overflowing
flowing with ease in the midst of strife.
See arc of the rainbow on horizon
feeling blessed with each breath I take
transforming transcending whatever surrounds
Align with joy Be alive and awake.
Each moment in the present
a gift from Source to enthrall
reflecting to capture our brilliance
gems reflecting our purpose our call.
Keep perception of prism refracting
all is well it's perfectly crystal clear
creating aligned with Creator
only Love there is nothing to fear.

We've been listening to the Insight Meditation Society's Daily Offerings. In yesterday's talk, Chris DiCapua cited how during these times our minds are like a Petri dish with a soup of thoughts. What thoughts are we going to cultivate? What thoughts will we allow to take root and what thoughts will we let pass. He led us through a wonderful meditation. These Daily Offerings are only 15-20 minutes long and have a wonderful calming and grounding effect in the middle of the day. My biggest take away was that there is so much we do not have control over but we do have a choice to be mindful of what thoughts we allow to expand.

During this time of not having control over so many things in our world, we DO have the freedom to choose our perception. My hope and intention is that you may find ways to feel uplifted in times of darkness, strong in times of feeling fragile and vulnerable and feeling Love surrounding.

From my heart to yours
to your health and well being
With love
Mary

My website is www.marymcmanus.com

My books are available on Amazon