Tag: Nature

Feel It All: Come Together

Posted on by TheMuse

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last]The Deeply feeling Katie Chirgotis of Eothen entices us with some Aquarius Season sensing and a call to action of coming together, during this new age we find ourselves in; an age that is asking us to step out of the shadows of great revolutionaries to keep watch over the freedoms that have rightly been fought for and are our responsibilities to uphold.
Photography also by Katie (view her instagram here).

Perhaps you remember “20 Questions” played at a slumber party when you were young. There’s a range of asks: the name of a major crush to ketchup v mustard preference to a brush with a ghost. A question I remember was, “if you could live in any age, what decade would it be?” My answer, shushed out from behind a mangle of braces and bad bangs, “the 60’s!”

Several reasons:

Peace, Love and Rock n’ Roll.
Flower Power and all the daisy crowns that came with it.
Low-waist bell bottoms (back en vogue at the time).
Something about the way my body felt and my heart synced up when “Come Together” played on my parent’s Abbey Road album. A call, a thrum, a delicious idea of rebellion.[/two_third_last]

[two_third padding=”5% 0 0 0″]I was in love with the titillating juxtaposition of kumbaya anarchy, hand-holding, and peace-sign flashing. As a young person who so often felt alone and strange (along with almost every teenager that ever was), I imagined myself surrounded by others who felt and sang and danced like I did to the same Drum.

Decades later and more informed, I am sobered by the horrors of war and racial inequality that lit the flame of resistance. I recognize the cost of a generation disillusioned by and divided from the one before.

Generation( S ).

When we connected during Sagittarius season, we named that many of us haven’t needed to resist the current state of being. Rather, we distractedly stood on the shoulders of past radicals, artists, and truth-speakers who came together in protest of growing ugliness.[/two_third][one_third_last][/one_third_last]

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”9% 0 0 0″]This Ugliness. Let’s sense into what reaction or feeling lights up in each of us. Division. Accusation. Acceptance. Disbelief. Hope. Doubt. Fear. Grief. Resolution. Revolution. Whatever the light may be, it is not just us alone. It glows within the person beside us, facing us, following us. As we turn to acknowledge the flame burning within each other’s heart, we see our Community.

In Aquarius embodiment, we are again gathering as Fire-keepers and High Idealists have done before. Creating tribes to support, keep watch, and act. Whether you have marched, called your Senator, or opened your heart/mind/mouth in kindness to connect with someone who feels differently than you, community is formed. Our former limits of time and space are rendered boundless by the seamless interplay of reality and virtual reality, (the use of the Internet/social media, by the way, is SO AQUARIAN). With no limits, we are drawn to one another. [/two_third_last]

[one_sixth][/one_sixth][one_third padding=”3% 0 0 0″]At the end of March, I am co-leading a gathering to hold space for this fire, and what we need to do to sustain it. For a few days, we’ll spend time in the wild nature of Big Sur, a place that I feel is incredibly close to Source. Through the practice of yoga, artistic creativity and spiritual healing – men and women will be a community that honors the need to feel safe AND free. Grounded AND in flight. An honoring of something bigger than ourselves, and longer than our brief time here on Earth.

I know you, you know me. So, let us beat the drums, gather around the fire, and see each other through the flames. [/one_third][one_third][/one_third][one_sixth_last][/one_sixth_last]

Feel It All: How Are You Transitioning?

Posted on by TheMuse

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last]New Contributor Katie Chirgotis brings an in-tune perspective to our community, a nature lover who works magic with flowers in the bay area through her company, Eothen. We wholeheartedly welcome and share her passionate voice and imagery as an empath, Millennial, artist and muse.

I often ask people how they are doing–not an exceptional way to start a conversation by any stretch. It’s something I genuinely want to know, no doubt. But the answer to the question also lays down the baseline for what I’m tuning into–whether I’m meeting someone for the first time or connecting with a friend from decades before. There’s plenty of lines to read between with the cheery response of, “Fine!”

Interestingly enough, what I have found, as we have all turned slowly into these longer nights and south-slanting light, is my lead-in question has changed. More and more I ask, “how are you transitioning?” It sounds a little strange coming out of my mouth, but there it is. What I have found even more interesting is that the response is often a level gaze, a thoughtful pause, and an articulation of change.

Leading into Sagittarius where big, blousy Jupiter takes us all up in large, fiery swaths of re-examination and questioning, and we have all experienced a different understanding of how we may think, feel, and move in comparison to those who stand beside us. But our experience of change, transitioning, and shifting are common denominators.[/two_third_last]

[one_half padding=”5% 0 0 0″]For many of us, particularly if you are a Millennial as I am, we have long been in cruise mode. The generations before fought wars, felt deeply about causes, shifted culture and, generally, believed in something. Because of that amount of work, or if you want to get woo-woo with me, transmitted energy, decisions were made and patterns set with no sustained volume of curiosity about it on our part. We were told the story, and we believed it to be true.

Now there’s a new frequency. From what I’m picking up, we are collectively waking up. Paying attention, stretching our muscles to ask why. And thank goodness! Doesn’t it feel so damn good to act? To see those patterns of your life, and decide that it doesn’t dictate who you are today, or the next? Perhaps now, there are things we must fight for rather than living within a lie.

So. How are you transitioning?[/one_half][one_half_last][/one_half_last]

Balancing Libra: How to Cultivate More Beauty

Posted on by TheMuse

[two_third][/two_third][one_third_last]Finding Beauty through Balance, Equality, & Elegance by Ann Whittaker

This is me–my sun sign is Libra. You would think this would be a breeze to explore and write about, right? I thought so, too. And, boy, was I dead wrong. Why? But, really, why?

Maybe because the first thing you read about your own damn sun sign is that it’s the sign that rules relationships, marriage, and weddings–turns out I went through a divorce over a year ago. How’s that Libra working out for me now? Marriage? Not so much. Relationships? My familial relationships with my mom and siblings are enviable. My women friends are my secret coven who take great care of my heart. I buy it. I know it. Libras lean heavily on relationships.
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[full_width]Perhaps that’s why my divorce was so devastating. The balance shifted. But I eventually found the balance again in all the other remarkable people in my life–because give and take is the rhythm I seek and cultivate. And, truly, I still love going to weddings. I admit it, I’m your typical Libra: Hopeless Romantic in Chief. Thank you, Venus.

With that out of the way, we can talk about the other things I love about being a Libra, and how all of us can cultivate our Libra side.

Beauty

“When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see.”
-John O’Donohue

Beauty is my word of all words. I live by it; I crave it; I seek it. This is no artificial or empty beauty–it’s a beauty that comes deep from the roots. Beauty is the perfect balance of bitter, sweet, and savory in a meal; beauty is the sound of aspen trees quaking in the wind; beauty is one line perfectly intersecting another creating a harmonizing composition; beauty is a simple voice singing a simple tune.

Beauty, let it be noted, is not unblemished perfection–that would tip the scales out of balance! Beauty is wholeness–all of it. I often tell my dear friends, “I love you. Every bit.” And I mean it. They are beautiful to me, every bit.

Cultivate Beauty:
1. Send three friends an unsolicited text that says, “I love you. Every bit.”
2. What have you seen today in nature that was so beautiful it resonated to your very core? List five things.
3. Write down the last time something moved you to tears or to laughter it was so beautiful.

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[full_width]Equality & Diplomacy

I was that university student who went to every protest, signed every petition, and lectured my family weekly about how we can’t support unfair labor practices in any way, shape, or form. It broke my heart as I inhaled books and articles about the violence women and children experience on this planet–ecofeminism was a no-brainer for me. Equal opportunity was and is my mantra. If someone isn’t playing by the rules, or they’ve created unfair rules, you better get ready for a storm because I won’t stand for it, and I’ve got karma on my side.

As I’ve aged, thankfully, my diplomatic side has also grown to balance out the scales. I love a good debate about issues surrounding justice and equality. Both sides are fascinating to me, but, of course, equality wins in my heart and mind every time. Keep in mind, equality and justice come at a price, and your Libra side loves a good fight for a good cause.

Cultivate Equality & Diplomacy:

1. Identify an issue where you see an injustice concerning something you care about deeply. How can you participate to encourage more equality in your circles of influence?
2. Figure out a way to approach the topic diplomatically next time you have a discussion. Have fun trying to see it from both sides. Put yourself in the other side’s shoes–at least for a moment.[/full_width]

[one_half]Elegance

I cannot describe how refreshing elegance is for a Libra: an almost bare room with just one blooming flower in its center; an unadorned piece of music; an honest line of poetry. No clutter, no distractions, no overstimulation–just the true essence of a thing or a person.

The best word I’ve come across to define what elegance means to me is the Japanese word “shibui” – an honest, minimal, quiet, unassuming, and unadorned feeling. No wonder I am drawn to poetry. Of course I prefer minimalist classical music or a straightforward bossa nova. Then there’s autumn–season where the leaves begin to fall and everything becomes bare again. And, and, thank the trend gods for making all-white décor a thing again.

Experience Elegance:

1. Listen to Arvo Pärt’s Silentium.
2. Listen to W.S. Merwin, poet, read his “Rain Light” or read it here.
3. Go for a walk in the woods. Take nothing with you. No music, no books, no one. Enjoy just walking–one thing. Notice how elegant walking truly is.
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