by June | Sep 15, 2017 | Blogposts
Stories. We all have them On a drive one afternoon in rural Ontario, the no-longer-existing fence with its tall weeds and grass wildly growing all around caught my eye and led my attention to the farmhouse waaaaaay off in the distance. I wondered what stories the building could tell. Stories of a time when it stood tall and erect, provided shelter, watched children romp and laugh and grow, watched adults become elders and move on
That was long ago. Now the farmhouse is beginning to tilt to one side and before long it will be a relic. One day, we too will be like the old farmhous. Let us not wait to remember and share our stories. Stories of long ago. Stories we are experiencing now. Stories to learn from. Stories to laugh about. Stories to cry over. Stories to celebrate. Stories we would like to forget. Stories of our childhood and youth. Stories of our travels. Stories of spiritual awareness. Stories of our mistakes. Stories of our successes. Stories of our loves. Stories of our sad times. Stories of our difficult times. Stories of our survival. Stories of personal growth. Stories of when we thrived. Stories of self-care or lack thereof.
We all have stories, but when we die they die with us, unless we share our stories. Now is the time to journal, blog, speak our stories into a tape recorder so those who follow can one day remember and say … “oh the stories!”
Photo and Text © June Maffin
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by June | Sep 10, 2017 | Blogposts
As I stepped out of the car to take this photo, the bird appeared on the beach, the sun began to set, and a transcendent peace seemed to enfold me. It was a quiet moment, a gentle experience of Love, and I wondered “what will Tomorrow bring?” Not just tomorrow or the next day, but the Tomorrow of when we die.
Many who have died and been brought back to life, speak of feelings of peace, gentleness, a Love that transcended any love they’d ever experienced before. My mother was such a person. Fearful of death before her experience with death-before-Death, such an experience changed her forever and then she lived her remaining years, unafraid, and in anticipation of the peace, gentleness and Love she believed awaited her when her sun set for the final time.
When tragedy happens and people perish, when accidents happen and people die, when illness happens and people succumb, my mother’s experience comforts me.
What will Tomorrow bring for me? for you? for all who have gone: those known to us – those unknown to us. May they – may we rest in a peace that passes understanding … rest in a gentleness beyond comprehension … rest in a Love that is inexplicable. May peace, gentleness, Love be what Tomorrow will bring.
Photo and Text © June Maffin
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by June | Sep 6, 2017 | Blogposts
“J’ai peur.”
“I’m scared.”
As hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, fires make their way islands, homes, businesses, animals, people, “J’ai peur … I’m scared” are words that are heard.
As politicians make unwise decisions which could lead to civil unrest and perhaps war, “J’ai peur … I’m scared” are words that are spoken.
What to do in the midst of experiencing fear that “gut-wrenching, can’t explain, keep-me-awake” type of fear?
I wish I had the definitive answer.
Sometimes admitting our fear to ourself/another is helpful. Sometimes it helps to focus on slowly breathing “in” saying/thinking/whispering/praying the word ‘peace’ as we inhale and saying/thinking/whispering/praying the word ‘fear’ as we exhale can help. Sometimes it helps to “create” something – in the kitchen, garden, shop, studio, on the computer, in our Journal … can help. Sometimes repeating Dame Julian of Norwich’s words: “All shall be well. All shall be well. And all manner of thing shall be well” can help (and using our breath to say them … inhale and say “all shall be well”; exhale “all shall be well”; inhale “and all manner of thing”; exhale “shall be well.”
And sometimes … nothing we do seems to help.
The feelings of helplessness, abandonment, lack of control overwhelm us.
Our breathing becomes shallow.
Our heart races.
Our mind won’t stop thinking.
At such times I take comfort in the reality that somewhere in the world, someone is experiencing a spiritual oasis bymeditating; inviting peace for others; sitting cross-legged and chanting; saying the Rosary; receiving Communion; reciting the Shema; praying the Daily Office; thinking / sending / praying / whispering good thoughts; holding those experiencing fear in their heart, mind and spirit
… and I am comforted.
Because of our common humanity, regardless of our religious or spiritual belief, I know that am not alone.
To all in the path of fury of Mother Nature, or in the path of the pandemic or that path of politicians out of control, may you be comforted.
You are not alone.
It may feel like you are
but you are not.
In some way, at some level, we are connected.
To all in the path of fury of human nature, may you be comforted.
You are not alone.
I may fell like you are
but you are not.
We are connected.
In some way, at some level, we are connected
… connected by the intangible essence of compassion, empathy, prayer, love.
Our humanity.
It’s okay to admit our fear in spoken and written word.
Admitting our fear helps move it out of the darkness
and the power fear wields over us is no longer as strong as it was
even a moment ago when fear was boxed-up inside us.
It’s okay to admit “I’m afraid. J’ai peur.”
I
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by June | Aug 29, 2017 | Blogposts
It’s easy to point fingers and blame. It’s easy to mock and ridicule someone who is different. It’s easy to harass and bully those unable to defend themselves. It’s easy to pick up a gun to settle an argument. These may be ‘easy’ – but they are not only ‘not right’, they lead to more finger-pointing, blame, mocking, ridiculing, harassment, bullying and even murder.
In Texas and Louisiana … something is happened. The rain continued and waters rose. People were trapped in their homes. Will they get rescued? And, by whom? People *were* being rescued … by professionals and ordinary citizens alike. Rescuers didn’t ask “Are you an American?” “Do you believe what I believe when it comes to politics?” “Are you a Christian?”
They’re helping. They’re reaching-out. They’re expressing love … by their selfless actions … by their compassion … by their concern … by their prayers and kind thoughts. People are recognizing the true essence of what it means to be human.
© June Maffin (photo & text)
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by June | Aug 22, 2017 | Blogposts
“My courage does not roar. It whispers to my heart. It makes me dig deep
and find it in my soul to fight on.” <Firefighter Kim Fitzsimmons>
Thank you, firefighters everywhere. You valiantly and selflessly serve long hours at great personal cost. We continue to hold you close in our hearts.
We pray for your protection and remember … those whose homes are being destroyed by fire … your families, wildlife and vegetation … those whose lives have been lost and their families … firefighters still fighting the fires … those who are besieged by fire-fighting experiences PTSD.
Your selflessness and sacrifice are not forgotten and we are grateful, grateful beyond measure. Thank you for letting the courage that whispers to your heart help you dig deep and find it in your soul to fight on.
© June Maffin
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www.soulistry.com/blog<unknown photographer>
by June | Aug 21, 2017 | Blogposts
I didn’t see much of the eclipse … or so I thought. A friend and I were on the back deck with the computer on the table chatting, visiting, sipping tea watching the NASA feed on the computer. “When will it happen?” we wondered. The computer showed us that the eclipse *was* happening, but other than no wind movement in the trees, a darkness on the left side, and a drop in temperature, not much seemed to be happening where we were.
But when I downloaded the photo I took, I saw something I hadn’t seen during the eclipse … fascinating swirls of light!
Those swirls of light made me stop and think about things we miss, about people we miss when we are not … expecting the unexpected … being open to possibilities … dealing with the “ism’s” we don’t want to admit … acknowledging the negativity we feel and there is an eclipse in our corporate soul.
May we see beyond the things and people seeking to cloud our minds with negativity, confuse our thoughts with misinformation and lies, obliterate light from this world.
Eclipse … your time has come to a close. May swirls of light of truth, reason, integrity replace our obscured vision.
© Photo & Text June Maffin
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by June | Aug 5, 2017 | Blogposts
Whether we want it to, or not. Whether we welcome it, or not. Whether we celebrate it, or not. Aging happens. ‘Growing old’ is different. Growing old is more than chronology. Growing old is about attitude and is about play. When we stop playing, we stop delighting in life; we stop being hopeful; we become old. While I may be chronologically aging and my body may be showing its age, I refuse to grow old. Play is my middle name – even if it’s only a few minutes each day.
Some days are more difficult to include a play-filled activity than other days. But I make a conscious effort. I remember one of those more difficult days. There was no rational explanation. The sadness and profound sense of loss was there … big time. I could feel the waves of grief tumble and erupt. I could feel my body experiencing the loss of my husband in an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. I decided to head outdoors and take a short walk around the block.
On my little walk I encountered a little girl. She was singing a familiar melody while she walked her dog and I began to hum the melody. It was my ‘play’ for the day! It was just a few seconds. But it was play and I felt a hint of joy as the tears tumbled down my face because I wanted to tell my husband about this lovely encounter. Then as I walked back home, a smile began to form on my face … because I did tell him. 🙂
When we play, joy begins to emerge. Whether we are encountering a familiar melody sung by a little girl walking her dog, (or dancing, or doodling, or engaging in board games, or strolling along the beach, or playing bridge, or are involved in a sport, or interacting on the internet, or playing an instrument, or sharing a meal with a friend, or creating something (be that a handmade card, a tool shed, a dress, a poem, a painting, a piece of calligraphy, a meal, a book, a piece of pottery, a magazine article, a garden, a computer program, a piece of sculpture, a photograph, a mandala, a scrapbook, a bookcase … whatever!), we begin to realize that there is still life within us, hope emerges, and joy has space to flower.
There is such wisdom in the words of George Bernard Shaw: “We don’t stop playing because we’re old. We grow old because we stop playing.” The photo was taken several years ago when I surprised my husband, Hans, with a ride on a Zodiac boat. He loved it!!! While that’s not exactly the word I would use to describe the zodiac-experience, he was having such fun, even when the rain started, even when the wind picked up, and even when the storm quickly arrived, how could I not delight in his delight? A spirituality of play has many ways to surface for the young and those who are aging!
by June | Aug 1, 2017 | Blogposts
Embracing spiritual concepts and peaceful ways, the Toltec people of southern Mexico around 900 A.D. considered all of life to be part of the Great Mystery. Science and spirit were seen to be part of the same entity. Even though the Toltec culture left no written records about their beliefs,
it was believed that a shaman was the repository of Toltec culture
and had the ability to guide people in their lives.
When a near-fatal car accident changed the life of a surgeon born in rural Mexico, he apprenticed himself to a shaman to learn about the Toltec culture. A move to the United States found him exploring the human mind from both an indigenous (Toltec culture) as well as a scientific perspective (his medical training) resulting in a unique combination of traditional wisdom and modern insight in a very short book. The man was Don Miguel Ruiz. The name of the book, a New York Times bestseller for more than seven years, was The Four Agreements, offered four simple guidelines to life.
AGREEMENT 1 Be impeccable with your word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
AGREEMENT 2 Don’t take anything personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
AGREEMENT 3 Don’t make assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.
Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
AGREEMENT 4 Always do your best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Such wisdom, Dom Miguel Ruiz.
Thank you.
Photo & Text © June Maffin
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by June | Jul 27, 2017 | Blogposts
“Throwback Thursday” and telephones: When I was a child living in Montreal, I remember we would call my mother’s parents in Florida once a month and use an egg timer. Yes, literally an egg timer – to make certain the phone call didn’t go over our family’s three minute limit. Long distance phone calls were expensive! I remember my brother Gerry and I staring at the tiny grains of sand drip, drip, drip through the teeny hole, and my mother talking more quickly to her mother and father as the grains became fewer and fewer and then Gerry and I would quickly say “Hi Grannie. Hi Grandad” (and not much more) and the phone call would be over.
Decades later, a phone call from an island on the west coast of Canada to the Netherlands can go on and on and on for hours as laughter bursts forth with the stories that are shared … like this photo I took of my dear husband Hans in our Studio talking on the phone to his siblings in Zeist. The invention of the phone and the under-four-dollars for several hours of conversation cost allowed us to stay well-connected with our Dutch family without concern that we would be going over our phone budget.
Thank you Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson for being the earliest developers of the telephone and thank you to all who have played a part over the years in creating portable phones, lower long distance phone rates, free 911 calls, etc. You have brought countless people a sense of security that practical help can easily be contacted in case of emergency, and brought much joy as the voices of loved ones are heard and conversations are shared. And while I know that phones can be frustrating these days (what with the increasing prevalence of scammers), I’m very grateful they exist. “Throwback Thursday” … I love it!
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by June | Jul 24, 2017 | Blogposts
People ache at the escalation of political deception and lies, racial inequity, economic consequences, bullying, religious persecution, sexism, cultural confusion, injustice, hatred and more.
Spirits grieve and minds shut down, holding on to beliefs without openness
to scientific research, reason, wisdom, history, knowledge, fact. Sometimes it seems as if there is more that separates than unites.
May the focus be more on the Good that unites than that which divides. May Love be felt and awe experienced in the midst of pain and distress and desolation. May logic and reason and fact educate, inform, guide. May there be hope for tomorrow … and the tomorrows which follow.
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(Text adapted from my poem published in “RACE AND PRAYER: COLLECTED VOICES, MANY DREAMS Malcolm Boyd and Chester Talton, editors
Morehouse Publishing 2003 ISBN 0-8192-1909-6)
Photo & text © June Maffin
