NOVEMBER RADICAL EXPRESSION

As I type the November edition of RADICAL EXPRESSION, I am amazed once again at how quickly a calendar year can seem to pass. While time is ultimately an illusion of consciousness, it certainly seems to me that the illusion is moving more quickly than ever. I find myself often stopping, breathing deeply into the present moment, and becoming conscious of all that is around me and within me. I am drawn more and more to savoring the quality of my moments, and wanting to fully experience my experience. My dear friend Abbi, whose picture you see to the right, is a master teacher of this art of savoring. Can you see and feel the gleeful look in her eyes as she gazes off, free of interpretation and labels? Such attention simply for the experience of attention. Such joyfulness for the sake of joyfulness. Such pure and natural Presence. The wonderful author Alan Cohen wrote a small book some years ago entitled ‘Are You As Happy As Your Dog?” Even for those who don’t have pets, it is a great inquiry. I personally am taking a cue from Abbi, and engaging in a lot of gleefully gazing these days.
November contains within its days the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving. I have always loved the vibrational feel of this observance. I don’t believe there is anything more enlivening and healing than the heart-felt frequency of gratitude. I have long made it a practice to tap into this vibration before my feet touch the floor in the morning. I also make it a practice to keep a gratitude journal, recording entries each and every day. Gratitude is the best barometer I know for my current state of wakefulness. When I am not feeling at least a subtle mist of gratitude flowing forth from my heart, I know that I am trapped in a perception that is not worthy of Who I am in Truth. I know that I am trapped in a story of separation, and that it is a story that is steeped in the past and projected into the future. I know it is time for a wake up call from my Self to my self: HELLO! ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING? ARE YOU FORGETTING YOUR SOURCE, AND WHO YOU ARE WITHIN THAT? ARE YOU FORGETTING HOW INCREDIBLY BLESSED YOU ARE TO BE ALIVE WITHIN THE ONE? ARE YOU FORGETTING THAT THE ABILITY TO FORM A STORY IS A SOURCED-RIGHT THAT YOU ARE MISUSING AT THIS VERY MOMENT?

It doesn’t take very long for these types of questions to snap me out of my temporary unconsciousness. As I begin to arise in consciousness from my ego-stupor, I feel such gratitude to be able to recognize the contrast that awakening gives. Chances may be good that I will nod off again, yet it is simply another opportunity to practice the art of chosen wakefulness. What a gift! And rather than using the tools of guilt and condemnation that I used to engage in, today I allow the feeling of thanksgiving in my heart to be the way of recognizing where my focus is in any given moment. Grateful, I’m awake. Labeling-making in contraction- I am definitely asleep.

There is always something, and usually a myriad of things, to be grateful for. I personally choose to practice being grateful FROM more than I do being grateful FOR. Gratitude needs no object. It is a state of heart. A state of Being. Just like Abbi. Abbi is a picture of joyful thanks-living. I will definitely take some of that!

Happy days of November to each of you, and a most joyous Thanksgiving!

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