A CALL TO THE UNIVERSE

A few years ago, I came across the mystical prayer "make the invisible, visible." And ever since then, I have practiced it whenever I'm outside among nature's bounty. It may sound silly, but this simple and brief invocation has really worked wonders for my senses and ability to become aware of nature's lessons and mystical web of details.

Yesterday was no different, while my partner and I hiked through an ancient rainforest, hanging with moss and ferns, on our way to Tonsina Point in Caines Head State Recreation Area near Seward.

As we hiked and once at water's edge, I put out a silent call to the universe, and waited as the wonder unfolded within my senses of sight, smell, hearing, and feeling.

Tonsina Point on January 28, 2017

The heights of the spruce and fir trees struck me like never before. Their towering trunks and canopies reflected the firmness and majesty of the mountains that they grew out of. 

The textures of dead trees, their inner workings exposed and folded in intricate ways, exuded such complexity and subtlety of color. 

The raindrops hung from the tips of evergreen needles, decorating the woods and trails in sparkly curtains. 

The snow, oh that white wonder and solidarity of the universe. It humbly folded beneath our feet, pressing deeper into the soil, while allowing us to pass through its pearly gates. 

Alaska's waters, what more needs to be said? 
Their purity, power, and reflection of wind's motion are at once soothing and mysteriously out of reach,

continually exposing deeper and deeper revelations. 

And there they are, the body of Mother Earth reaching out to Father Sky. 

The ancient, the sacred, the grandmothers of HERstory, 

at once swimming among the clouds and growing out of Earth's core. 

When their peaks are covered in alpine glow, surrounded by clear blue skies,

one can only stand still and stare, 

catching a glimpse of the divine.

Happy communing with Mother Earth!

~Modern Akhmatova 

REMEMBERING

Remembering those who fought, sacrificed, and paved the way forward, 

for the betterment of all life on Mother Earth

Remembering those living today, 

who are suffering, or feeling scared and voiceless

May we have the awareness of history, 

strength of vision, 

and love for all life

To come together in solidarity,

and to work toward bending the arc of the moral universe 

toward justice for all that lives on our beloved Mother Earth

~Modern Akhmatova

VISIONS AND GRATITUDES

Follow your bliss...view of Seward's beach on a clear and chilly winter morning

As we enter 2017, I'm grateful for two habits that I'm bringing with me into the new year. One focuses on looking forward, while the other is about appreciating the past. Both offer a way to pause and reflect on all that has happened and what it is that I want to focus on in the coming days.

About 2.5 years ago, I wrote a post called "Imaginative Living." My partner and I continue to follow the process I described in that post of writing and discussing our 1, 5 and 10-year visions at the beginning of each calendar year. We're getting ready to do this again over the next few days by reviewing the visions we wrote down in years past (7 for me and 5 for him) and then writing our new ones down. It's really interesting to look back at what we imagined and how those visions have manifested in our lives over the years. Some were exactly spot on, while others happened slightly differently, but essentially according to what we imagined, and still others have morphed into something else or did not happen at all. One thing is certain though, our visions have come into greater and greater focus over the years, so that today we are pretty clear on what it is we aspire to do and become, even if we're still figuring out how to get there exactly. 

There is another part to this process that I started in 2014, but only really committed to at the beginning of 2016. It is the morning ritual of writing down one's gratitudes for the events that transpired the day before. Even though this process may appear tedious at first, it really has done wonders for my level of positivity and satisfaction toward myself, others and the world at large throughout the year. What I hadn't realized however, is the magic that this simple, yet powerful ritual would offer at the beginning of the following year. What do I mean by this?

Collection of my gratitudes from 2016

Well, part of the ritual is collecting all of the daily gratitudes in one place, so that at the end of that year or the beginning of  the next one, you can look through all of the gratitudes and remind yourself of all the good things that happened during the previous year. I just started to do that earlier this week with the gratitudes I had written and collected during 2016, and boy has it been fun and meaningful! It is such an easy way to recollect both the small and big blessings that graced my life on a daily basis throughout the previous year. It is also a great way to celebrate those memories by sharing the highlights with your loved ones, as I do with my partner. This added gift has offered us a chance to pause and remember the good, focus on the good, and aspire to create more good in the days to come.

Happy visioning and thanksgiving!
~Modern Akhmatova

BECOMING

(a visual capture)

On the first day of winter, I took a long walk

I felt like walking far and straight
I felt like trudging through the path packed with snow
I felt like seeing the light come up from behind the mountains
I felt like walking to the place where I could see Resurrection Bay

I stopped on a bridge overlooking Resurrection River that was flowing toward the Bay
at some point, my hand brushed the snow off the top of the bridge

It flew
It flew toward the river
    and as it flew
it danced in the wind
    a snowy version of starling murmurations

My hand moved
       becoming snow flying
The snow flew
       becoming the wind's memory
The wind remembered
       becoming the water flowing

Becoming,
        a dance of energies and life's transformation.

~Modern Akhmatova