Maybe it was the full lunar, Blood Moon eclipse, Sept 7-8, or maybe the series of asteroids that NASA announced were zipping by Earth: QC5 and GE on September 8, and the closer QV9's (1,250,000 miles) flyby on September 10, 2025, or maybe it was the impending September 11 anniversary, or all three, but this past week has been arduous, indeed explosive. World conflict brought bombings, drone attacks, deadly protests, and in the U.S., the unveiling of shocking files, pictures, stories, and deadly political battles. Yet, this past week of threat and tragedy still holds the way to deeper spiritual realization, for those who seek it. I have been searching, inwardly, for the word or practice that can move us, from this volatile time, to restorative calm. This is the phrase for us this week: Restorative Calm.
Not all restoration is calm. The rebuilding of homes and neighborhoods, after the January fires here in L.A. County, was far from calm. Further upheaval was necessary in the rebuilding process—inspections, soil and air testing, debris removal with unrelenting trucks carting hazardous materials, planning meetings, insurance settlements, business workshops, etc. Calm expands as we learn to accept some degree of upheaval in a restorative process.
During the recent extreme heat here, I had a near empty refrigerator, so I placed an online order the night before, and scheduled my "pick up" for early morning. I could have everything safely in the freezer/refrigerator, before the temperature became unbearable. That morning, daylight streamed in the windows and I was unaware that the power was off, until the coffee pot didn't work. I started checking lights, but nothing was working, except my cellphone. I was not calm. At least, I had not opened the refrigerator or freezer, so what was in there was still alright, if I kept it closed. I knew, with the extreme heat, overuse of cooling can trigger neighborhood outages; no cooling can be deadly. I fretted about the outage, searched my phone, and discovered the outage was actually planned as a kind of safety-check inspection. It was expected to end approximately at the time I was scheduled to pick up groceries. That gave me hope, but I cannot say I was calm yet. Instead my mind was working on plans B, C, and D alternatives to storing some kind of food supply, as I watched the clock. Amazingly, at precisely the scheduled time, the power came back on. And stayed on. I jumped in the car, picked up the food, returned, and filled the refrigerator--grateful, and finally, calm.
Through out this mini-drama, myself as "watcher", watched my own process of anxiety, mingled with doubt (in the electric company website), along with a subtle dark shadow of fear of changing times, and yet, there remained a deeper spiritual trust that things would resolve well. The watcher was calm; the impatient, doubting one was not.
Today, and the week ahead, I encourage you to find spaces and time for calming yourself, and calming that bit of the World that is Your world--your space, your place, along with those you care for. This is a calm that allows you to rebuild, or restructure, or renew your way of being in these times. Restorative to me, implies healing. You may not think that you are the one that needs healing, but you are the access point; the main access you have for restoring calm around you. Peace and calm, begin with you. (Susan Nettleton)
For Poetry: https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/poetry/poems/inisfree.html https://boomerecocrusader.com/stillness-a-poem-to-restore-calm/ http://bibles.wikidot.com/sample-mitchell