Category Archives: Jamie Ridler

Full Strawberry Moon Dreamboard

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From Jamie’s post: “The Full Strawberry Moon, the Full Honey Moon, the Full Rose Moon, what evocative names for this luscious, sensual moon. As we began to gather our supplies and images beneath the new moon, I invite you to consider the question, ‘What would I love to delight in this month?’  Let this moon set you free to dream with wild abandon, to bust through any barriers that have been in your way. Fill your dreamboard with whatever stirs your spirit and catches your soul – without censorship. Let yourself experience the luscious abundance of this moon and fill your dreamboard to overflowing. Let the pictures drip off the sides of the page.  Run wild with your dreams under this full Strawberry moon.”

What would I love to delight in this month?

freeing the mind
freeing the body
sweet dreams
fresh living

breathe
tucked in
easy, enjoy
drift off

something beautiful is happening
summer in motion
make every day a celebration
be gentle

journeys and destinations
get up
go
run
breathe
work it out
stretch it out
get out there

it’s life
a crazy happy life

The image of a person diving in to the water, diving in, jumping in and being submerged, immersed in life. At some point, there’s no more preparation or planning to do, you simply have to jump, (or walk away, stay stuck and numb).

Peonies, for some reason I’m obsessed with them right now, they are so full, lush and tender.

Water color paints, a flower wheel of blue. I am painting a bit, trying to stretch my creative boundaries, move beyond my comfort zone, and the blue is for the ocean, the beach, where we’ll spend a month this summer. That’s also why the book case, nightstand, all in white and blue, because there will be much reading and rest.

A woman napping in a boat, movement and rest. These are two things I crave, hunger for, would love to delight in, caring for my body, being in my body, moving and resting my body.

Typewriter and hands making an offering. These are both the same, the writing and the offering, my tender open heart, sharing it in the hopes of easing suffering.

And a strawberry–strawberry moon.

Wishcasting Wednesday

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from jamie’s post

What heights do you wish to reach?

In the Shambhala Buddhism tradition, “there is a developmental process for deepening and furthering authentic presence…called the warrior’s path of the four dignities,” (Shambhala Training Glossary). One of the four dignities is the Dragon. Sakyong Mipham Rinphoche describes the Dragon this way:

The dragon’s confidence is prajna, deep wisdom based on knowing how things are. The dragon knows we’re always trying to project a concrete world onto a fluid process, mistaking our ever-changing experience for a self. Like the elements, this kind of wisdom doesn’t need to be propped up. It is a direct experience of reality, empty and ungraspable.

As the wisdom of the dragon destroys our illusions, we begin to understand basic goodness, the unconditional purity and confidence of all. With this view, life itself becomes our source of energy, and the enlightened world begins to appear. The wish-fulfilling jewel of wisdom and compassion are liberated, and we can play in the blessing and magic of our everyday existence.

I wish to reach the heights of the Dragon, to soar in the sky, gentle and wise, above all my illusions and confusion and suffering, to “play in the blessing and magic of our everyday existence.” More specifically, if I had to guess, that might look like this:

  • Doing work I love, work I’d do anyway, for pay. To spend my days writing, making art, practicing yoga and meditation, engaging with amazing women, studying and serving. I would make a loving living, with the same quality of benefits and pay I have now. I’m not going to rush or push this, don’t need to force what I love to pay my bills, but I think that eventually it’s possible, and that I would be of more value to others, be more personally satisfied if this were how things were.
  • Yoga and Meditation Instructor Certification. These practices have meant so much to me, been so helpful, that I want to be able to share them, teach them, and want the proper training and wisdom to do so ethically and safely.
  • To reach my optimal physical strength and health, quickly and without obstacle. Resting when I need rest, practicing loving self-care, enjoying moving through the world in this body with minimal pain, breathing, walking, hiking, headstands in yoga, running, playing, eating, being nourished.
  • To be in a position to give, to help, to decrease suffering in the world.
  • Published and paid writing. Again, I don’t necessarily want to strip the joy from my writing by making it too work-like, but I also think there’s value in being recognized, validated for that work in these tangible ways. I don’t have a specific idea of what this might look like, but it would make me happy for my books to be a physical manifestation in the world, to be held in people’s hands.
  • Confidence. To manifest the funny, silly, brave, confident, open-hearted, generous, wise, gentle, kind, and creative women that lives deep in my heart. I want everyone else to know her like I do. They don’t all have to love her, I know she’s not for everyone, but I want her to be seen, to be known, to be realized and embodied, instead of a secret I kept, instead of a quiet whisper in the dark. To be confident in the way Susan Piver describes it, “the willingness to be as ridiculous, luminous, intelligent, and kind as you really are, without embarrassment.”