Tuesday, November 23, 2010

In The Spirit Of Gratitude


"Family Album" by Dar Freeland
images & text © 1997-2011 dar freeland | all rights reserved

How does one sift out all of the extraneous dramas of the holidays and just get down to what is important - that love is bigger than all the smallness that we could muster up for a psychologically dramatic impact? Are we so habitually bored as a species that we can’t make it through one day without letting our whole life history mess up 24 hours together? Why do we so often find ourselves operating with our loved ones before the meal, eating and/or spitting out all of our emotional leftovers?

How do we laser in our focus on what really matters, which is to honor and respect another person - even relatives? Oooooooo. Yes, we are different and that is what makes life juicy, exciting and an ever-evolving challenge. Our differences are our gifts and lessons - our Life School, so why do we choose to misbehave or ditch school entirely? We all know THAT isn’t going to work. Being truant from our relationships only puts distance between our bodies and our stuff - it doesn’t HEAL anything. The old saying still goes, wherever you go, there you are. Our history, feelings, and life stories are locked in our inner library so no matter what the location - they will emerge, with others posing as the mirrors of our family or **gasp** our family itself.

We may not love all the behavior around us - but aren’t we grown up enough now to allow “behavioral” moments to be just moments? Even a lifetime collection of words and deeds does not make a person fixed. The opportunity to become new each moment exists as a choice within us all, so no one can be assigned as “this is who you are….” That determination is for a person and their maker to decide, a private matter that is none of our business. Heal thyself. Is it possible that we focus so much on guarding our hearts, and consequently forget to open them?

Is anyone up for charging ahead and being fearless about love?

So what kind of holiday would WE create, if we truly got it and believed that we were the one creating it? At the least, how will we participate and contribute to a meaningful, thankful, joyful, juicy, playful and empowering time together?

Even in the face of no evidence, LOVE ANYWAY.

--dar freeland
faceupstudio.com