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The Crow's-Eye View

Woman in Flight

With this blog, I want to get the reader -- and me -- thinking about what it is that we believe and take for granted as "the truth." After nearly six decades of life, I've concluded that "truth" is in the eye of the beholder. Read Full Introduction

Fall and Winter's Gifts

Posted on November 20th, 2014 (2 Comments)

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Being a mystic, it is very easy for me to have spontaneous shifts of consciousness that pull me into a broader perspective. From that viewpoint – the crow’s-eye view, which is my blog’s official name – I am able to appreciate the multiple dimensions and parts that comprise each aspect of life.

I talked about this a bit in my blog post Awe and Wonder 101 almost exactly a year ago. Perhaps the late fall’s hints of the coming quietude of winter’s deep sleep cycle put me into an even more contemplative state than usual.

This is also the time of year when the veil is thin between the worlds as well as the start of the holiday season, traditionally a time to connect with family, so I feel particularly aware of the physical absence of departed members of my family of origin. This puts me squarely in the appreciation (and awe and wonder) of the life cycle, nature’s as well as my own.

The multiple strands of an individual’s inner and outer life, the new interweaving with the old, become a coat of many colors more rich and complex with each turning of the wheel. As I quickly approach 60 years of age, I make a point of daily appreciating the life that I have lived. I feel incredibly loving and tender toward my younger, developing self. I feel profound gratitude for all the people who have graced my life and assisted me in the art of self-knowing and self-acceptance (in short, every person, positive or negative in his or her influence has brought me closer to the essence of who I am).

When I am out and about, I sometimes look at other human beings and contemplate the richness of their life experiences, unknown to me, and the beauty of their coats of many colors. Rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or old or something in between, givers or sociopaths, all people, no matter what scale we use to determine the quality or value of their lives, are miracles.

I happen to side with the quantum and theoretical physicists who have determined the likelihood that linear time is an illusion (ask me or any mystic about those states we find ourselves in where we perceive past, present, and future as having melded into one) and that there are multiverses (vs. a single universe) where copies or variations of ourselves are living parallel lives. It makes me realize that judging any person or their life (or death) situation as tragic, futile, a waste, etc. could not be farther from the truth. This realization brings me great peace, especially when I’m veering toward anxiety in trying to manage time and the details of daily living or tempted to collapse into despair at all the madness and suffering on the planet.

So, I’m looking forward to this most contemplative time of the year as its energy grows with the shortening days. I guess that puts me in the minority (and I have great compassion for all of you who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder), but, hey, I’m used to that status and I wouldn’t change myself for the world.

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The Lens of Astrology

Posted on September 8th, 2014

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As a practicing astrologer for close to 40 years, I have become adept at the language and symbology of this ancient lens on life. I am not here to argue with anyone who might question or challenge me to explain why the movements of the planets, sun, and moon in our solar system have an influence on life on earth, both collectively and individually. I only know from my own long experience that this particular lens on life is remarkably synchronous with what actually transpires in the course of a person's life.

The psychological profile and personality analysis that a well interpreted natal chart affords (calculated using date, time, and place of birth) can provide as much -- or more -- insight in a much shorter period of time than psychotherapy. Clients often remark on this after they have had their first chart reading with me.

Is astrology my only lens on life? Absolutely not. But when I find myself or loved ones experiencing a more-than-average amount of stress, anxiety, challenging events, or even "happy accidents," out of curiosity I will see what transits (the angles or aspects the planets as they are currently positioned make in relation to the person's natal chart) are occurring. Invariably, there is a synchroncity where the circumstances mirror the transits.

The real gift of astrology, other than the insights it offers, is that it provides remarkably accurate timing. In other words, both positive and challenging periods (both of which provide opportunities for psychological, spiritual, and emotional growth) are of a limited duration, and astrology can tell one what that duration is and how best to use those opportunities.

As with most systems constructed by humans, astrology is but one lens to help us make sense of an overwhelmingly complex world and our place in it. I, and many others, find using this lens incredibly helpful as we navigate this mystery called life.

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Happy Birthday, Lily Tomlin!

Posted on September 1st, 2014 (1 Comments)

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Last night I remembered that today is Lily Tomlin's 75th birthday. Many of my generation remember her from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in, but her body of work over the years has shown her depth and breadth as a character actress.

What always struck and strikes me about her performances, especially her one-woman shows written by her creative and life partner, Jane Wagner, is her ability to project the humanity of each of her vast array of characters. Even if some of them sit in judgment of themselves or others, they are written and portrayed without judgment. Wagner's writing is the perfect vehicle for Tomlin's ability to fully inhabit the characters. Both Wagner and Tomlin compassionately find the essence of these characters, even as the humor (sometimes black humor) and absurdity make us laugh out loud.

A gifted author or actor does not have the exclusive ability to enter into the mystery of the human condition as experienced by different individuals across a broad spectrum. Each of us has the capacity to "get" another individual, to empathize (barring a mental illness that erases the capacity for empathy), despite how much "us-vs.-them-ness" has clouded the lens rhrough which we habitually look at fellow members of our species.

The oftentimes unconscious judgments that we direct not only at others but also ourselves are a good reason to make a conscious decision to look at everyone experiencing the roller coaster ride of being human through the lens of the heart (which some call the eyes of Source).

Thank you, Lily and Jane, for using your creative gifts and art forms to remind us how it's done.

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