What did you learn today...?¿

[wtx001]

I learned that I have much more to learn. Not only am I supposed to be learning in school, but learning in spirituality as well. My parents have no idea that I'm interested in this kind of stuff, but I've learned that I should bide my time until the proper oppurtunity to tell them. Ita, I usually have the same problem as you. I'm faced with a simple problem, but I instinctively over complicate the answer. And that's pretty much all I've learned for today.

[Muddy Fox]

I learned, mainly prompted by the previous post in this thread, that young people have so much more wisdom, maturity, charity, understanding , tolerance and appreciation for others, than many so called mature adults.
Over the years I found that the more people identify with "spiritual paths or groups", the worse the back biting gets and the competition to be top dog and special. Very much like playground bullying, as it was when I was at school. But young people, these days, seem to have gone past that stage on the whole.

[wtx001]

In truth, most of us have moved past that, but some of us cling to our old mentalities, not necessarily out of competition any more, but fear and retaliation now sets in. Everybody is stressing each other out.

[Oakmyst]

not all reflective journaling will be long or deep.

[Muddy Fox]

That it is too easy to take people for granted, especially special people. Until you don't see them for a while, and then you find yourself thinking and worrying about them all the time. And hoping that they are ok and that you haven't hurt them with your insensitivity.

[eagleheart]

Great question. I learn everyday. But, one thing that comes to mind from yesterday is that there can be great power and peace in the simplest of actions. Sharing tea with a friend, walking in nature, giving or receiving a genuine compliment, praying for someone and sending blessings without them knowing it, or laughing at an old memory with a friend. This world, as well as many other realms, seems to reveal to us, unlimited storehouses of wisdom when we humbly ask for it, and place ourselves in a position to receive it.

[Karl]

Sometimes the Universe gives you little hints of things.

Sometimes the Universe hits you in the back of the head with a tazer at three in the morning leaving you a trembling ball of agitation unable to sleep again. Cheers for that. And you could have left proper directions.

[Muddy Fox]

I learnt that you can easily forget the things you used to do and enjoy until other people or events trigger old memories.
For instance during a creative phase in my life I used to create and paint Faberge type eggs, from goose and duck eggs. I would blow out the contents through two small holes top and bottom, sterelise them and then cut them to create a lid or a door or a hood with a fine fret saw blade. I would then hinge them, paint, line and bejewel them using various themes. I made one for a friend's son's christening and cut a duck egg into the shape of a crib and lined it with lace and put a baby in it. It was very nice. I'm going to make some more decorated eggs, I could choose a religious scene or maybe Pagan or Buddhist theme,or intricate egg mandalas. Move with the times. It was terrible though when you had gone throughall that fiddly, detailed, painstaking work and then you would squeeze the egg too hard at the end and it would break. You could just cry when that happens. Anyway my sister has triggered off this memory at the week-end she said "Do you remember when you used to paint all them eggs and put jewels and stuff on them?" I said "Oh ahh yeah I do" It was around about the same time that I was making my own wine and brewing my own beer I think, I only had one child at the time. I've agreed to make a garden themed egg for her for christmas, that will keep me off forums. And then last night I found a yoga DVD that i have had for a couple of years. I have done yoga on and off for years and always feel better when I am doing it rather than when I am not, so I will be doing that this week. And then when you meet people from the past and you have gone your separate ways and then you meet them again and everything seems hunky dory until you get into deeper conversation and you realise why you didn't keep in touch with them in the first place.

[lavouivre]

I am learning now every day about motherhood. It is like a rite of passage, in the sense that it is not something you can learn in books and hearsay, even if the person talking to you, from her own experience, is your own mother. I am learning that words are not enough to describe how it feels like. And so you have to take a deep plunge into experience, and that plunge is overwhelming in all aspects.
It changes your life, your body, your mind, and makes you discover new limits and boundaries.
I am learning about a new kind of love, something totally different than the love you have for a parent, a sibling, a husband, a dog or a friend. The love for your own child is...quite something else. And I can't find a word strong enough or deep enough or infinite enough for it.
I am learning about my own body, and how it stretched, how my very bones found a new flexibility, how my cells through chemical processes found the strength and viability to sustain a new life, and to produce milk.
I am learning how I have to adapt my plans, my habits, and my sleeping pattern - and sometimes it is quite like a torture (especially the lack of sleep) and yet be happy about it and see what I can take in, to what extreme.
Yep... I am learning a LOT !!

[lavouivre]

Muddy Fox, I had the same experience just reading the gwers!
I remember that I was a druid already when I was 8 or 10 years old though I was unconscious of it. I already had a grove, I already was doing the light body meditation exercise, I was talking to trees, I was pretending that if I stood still and called to Earth, I would grow roots and feel the wind as if I had a bark and so never be cold. Then, in my early twenties, I forgot, I went to Paris to study and did all that students do and thought I was such a grown up person... Thinking late in the night that I was such a philosopher and artist, having boyfriends, finding a job, living life as I was taught by society to live life, consuming things.... Yet I had forgotten all about nature.
I had to learn again through the gwers what I was doing naturally before. I took a step back and it felt really weird, and really good at the same time.

[Muddy Fox]

Thanks Lavouivre.
Babies and motherhood eh? I have probably contributed to the over population of the planet by having four. Four before I was thirty years old, I would have one in a sling across my chest, one in a pushchair, one standing on the back of the pushchair, tired of walking, and one walking next to me. Getting on the bus was a struggle!
I won't give you any motherhood tips or advice, I think we all just muddle through. But I can say I have never regreted having children and being a mother. I think you discover much about the dynamics of life, love and nature through motherhood and it has a tendency to knock off those self-indulgent edges, when you are no longer first in your own life.
Mine are nearly all grown up and independent now, so I am starting another phase in my life,no dependents, no spouse and the world before me.
I will complete my Druid studies, I have been unsettled for a number of years and concentration has been a struggle, but I have found a method of studying that works for me now. And I feel reconnected to nature through running and walking, I just love running outside in all kinds of weather, and through the seasons, a simple childlike feeling. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.
Welcome to the world of motherhood!

[lavouivre]

Four!! I already struggle with one... But I guess, if you can deal with one, you can deal with more!

And you are right, it is a discovery, and a reassessment of your own life and habits and desires/plan for the future, where you are not first anymore.

A question: i suppose that for each child, you discover a new layer of love? As I said love for parents (father, mother), siblings, husband, friends and dogs, can you say you have love for child one, love for child two etc and that they are as powerful but as different one from the other?

Good luck with your new life! It sounds exciting and liberating too.

[Muddy Fox]

One, two, three, four.. I suppose there are no limits on unconditional love.

[lavouivre]

I am sure of it! My question was more if you loved them all differently? It is difficult to put into words but I guess, as an exemple, I love both my mother and my father equally, but not in the same way.

[Muddy Fox]

I don't think the deep core of love that you have as a mother differs from one child to another, the deep bond is there. I think relationships change and develop as a child grows and matures, and maybe the first child is the most challenging in every respect for you as a parent because it is a new experience. I think possibly, you become a bit more laid back and relaxed when you have been through the process before.
All relationships are unique, but not the depth of love. Sorry I haven't tried to analyse or express a mother's love in words before, it just is.

[lavouivre]

maybe the first child is the most challenging in every respect for you as a parent because it is a new experience. I think possibly, you become a bit more laid back and relaxed when you have been through the process before.

I guess I will have to see by myself!!
Thanks for sharing with me! I know it is difficult to put love into words. We should have different names for the different love we experience. And in the end, a word is just a word, convenient for some things and frustrating for others, depending on what you want to express!

[Lai Elya]

That I NEVER, EVER want to be anything but a Druid - I learnt that yesterday but hey ho!

[truthseeker]

OK don't laugh but the more I explore the idea of druidry and the more grounded and at peace with myself and others I become the more I believe it may be the key to world peace. Don't know, just saying....




Vicki

[Muddy Fox]

Well I learned last night and in the early hours of this morning. A couple of things really, triggered by reading a Christian site yet again, I will have to conquer that particular habit also. The question was "Is your hate stronger than your love?" I never use the word hate, I can genuinely say I feel no hatred towards anyone or anything. I think in this context it was referring to the distortion of Christianity, as it stands today in the hands of its clergy, Bishops, Pontiffs and Pope. So I thought actually I no longer feel strong enough about that particular man made institute to summon up anger or hate. I now feel fairly neutral, my emotions of anger and frustration over such issues are resolved and spent. Those emotions did not change anything other than me, adding stress on top of stress and unhappiness with it all. So I've stepped back and can view it for what it is or was, and it is something that no longer generates any strong emotion in me. Life goes on and there are so many other peaceful spiritual paths to be walked and enjoyed and I have to say the greatest aid to me in all of my struggles have been the creative, tolerant people here and Buddhism and it's principles. So that combination is bringing me peace and happiness and therefore I hope to spread that peace and happiness to others. I also learnt in the small hours that I do not have to keep explaining myself or apologising to anybody any more. I have not sold my soul to any group or organisation. I wish everyone well and I hope all genuine peace seeking paths flourish and succeed,whoever and wherever they are to be found because then maybe we may be on to the start of world peace at long last. So no my "hate" is not stronger I have just found different channels for my love.

[Karl]

If only more people in the world could say the same as the post above, we might have fewer wars and violence around.

I watched in action this morning how compassion is there, but how it gets clouded so easily by cerebral thought.

Weakness is seen, help is offered, help which cannot always be accepted. The help is retracted, and the weakness grows.
If you offer your hand, it might get bitten, but the fact that it was offered is comforting on some level.