Are You Mossy?

GEM78_5This card reminds me that a rolling stone gathers no moss. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

On the no moss side, you are assured of a constantly changing view. You will never be bored if you are always on the move.

On the moss side, you would find time to rest and time to sink your roots down into a place before gallivanting off again.

I’ve been both, I think. I’ve lived in Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Utah, and Colorado with several repeat stops in both Louisiana and Texas.

One of the pluses of that gadfly behaviour was the chance to make and maintain friendships all over the country. Thanks to finding the internet (that was in Michigan), I met people I would have never met.

The first stop for me on the internet was pre-world wide web days. In fact, as I write this, I’m wearing a sweatshirt that proudly says, “use your modem to dial.” Oh yeah, those were the days. My first home on the ‘net was a place called Grex. It was magical for me. It’s still out there too!

I found a place where there were areas to be myself as well as areas to play in fantasy worlds as another character. I think it was the first place I exercised my creative writing other than via letters with Cai who is the other half of Marilu Mann.

The Four of Swords here is from AGMuller’s Gemstones and Crystals Tarot. While I don’t necessarily agree with all the choices this deck makes, I love moss agate for the Four of Swords.

Have you been a rolling stone? Where did you roll to?

Have you gathered moss? Where were you when you first felt that idea of “Oh, this is what it feels like to belong?”

I’m challenging you today to use 180 seconds of your day to focus on one of those questions. Then tell me about it.

Four of Swords, Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals, AGMuller 2007

Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

I’ve learned how to take my mossy and non-mossy self to the next level with Leonie Dawson. You can too. Click the graphic below (aff link) to learn how. I have belonged since last May and it has truly galvanized me. I’d love to have you join me on this journey.

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Does It Permeate Your Being?

Shiver. I felt that statement down to my bones, y’all. Down to my marrow. It felt like one of those Moments From God (reverberating voice). As if the Universe had pulled me to that picture at that time to experience the word of my Deities.

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Click for larger image, y’all.

Today’s card is one of my Zentangles. This is one of my zendalalas (Zentangle in a mandala form). I had so much fun doing this. Now when I come back to it, I love it still.

If this were a Tarot card, it would be the Four of Wands. I see it as a coming together of disparate things creating something of beauty.

Yesterday, Leonie Dawson said this on one of her Instagram photos, “When I really sit with it, I see how my life is an opportunity to experience beautiful places and make art. Beauty is everywhere… We gotta be the sentinels that watch for it, seek it, let it permeate our being.”

Shiver. I felt that statement down to my bones, y’all. Down to my marrow. It felt like one of those Moments From God (reverberating voice). As if the Universe had pulled me to that picture at that time to experience the word of my Deities.

This wasn’t a whisper. It was a clarion call to action. I feel that way about joy. We must watch for it, seek it, let it permeate our beings. Yes, Leonie, yes, yes, yes.

So how will you watch for beauty today? How will you seek joy? Will it come on a bright red bird’s wing? The chocolate-coated smile of a child? A wave from a driver you’ve never met telling you to come ahead? A snail leaving a shimmering silvery trail across your sidewalk? A crumpled up newspaper you pick up and throw away so someone else doesn’t have to do it?

What will you do today to make beauty and joy happen in your world even if only for three minutes? 180 seconds of joy. 180 seconds of beauty.

I know we can do this. I know the JoyPatrolAlert members will spread the word. Grab your 180 seconds. Then share the message with one other person. Tell them to seek joy for 180 seconds then pass it on.

The key here? The trick? The Secret?

Joy accumulates. It piles up. Each tiny piece builds until it crowds out negative thought. We are retraining our brains to seek joy instead of dwell on the bad. Because the bad exists. We are just rewiring our hearts to seek joy, y’all.

Are you with me?

Zendala #31, Arwen Lynch, August 2012

Seek joy,y’all. Pass it on.