Life is Beautiful (or, Why I Capitalize My Laudatives)
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it..
Life is what we make it, a mirror reflecting from the inside out, our attitudes the view through which things materialize. I believe that life is Beautiful, each moment an opportunity and Gorgeous gift. It is for that reason that I began to capitalize words, typically adjectives or nouns, which remind me of the Glorious nature of life and my Gratitude for living. Love is always capitalized in my World! Well, as often as I can get away with doing so anyway. I like to remind myself and others to put the Joy back in enJoying each precious step of this Amazing adventure. While words which disparage or belittle are known as pejoratives, words which express praise, or have a positive effect are known as laudatives or approbatives. Enthusiastic words and actions which share inspiring energy should have a term, and those words which can remind us to stay uplifted in the challenging times, I think, deserve to be capitalized occasionally.
I Love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
Being in Nature is an Incredible opportunity to get closer to God/Goddess/Source energy, and by breathing in the sights and sounds we allow for an unfolding of life’s mysteries through which we can hear what our internal guidance system is wishing to share with us. Mother Nature, Nature, Earth, Sun and Moon all contribute such Loving energy into our lives, whether we accept consciously or not. Shouldn’t they be capitalized too? It’s an Awe~some miracle to bear witness to the Magnificent magick of Spring’s renewal, as plants and trees burst forth in new buds overnight. Much can be learned from the forests, lakes, streams, trees, plants, flowers and the Joy~full energy which abounds therein. It’s hard for me to believe that our life-giving Planet should not be given an upper-case status.
All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.
As life mirrors our thinking, I consciously choose to accentuate the Wonderful positives. When we are enthusiastic, seeing the Beauty of what is, we transform challenging situations and bring greater awareness to the Wondrous moment. Through us, this Dazzling energy is shared with those around us, allowing for a rippling out of positivity. Love life and share Joy with yourself and those around you, my BeLoved reader. Watch how it deeply enriches all. At least, that’s the view through my lens, and why I chose to start capitalizing my laudatives! What words would you capitalize?
Love and Blessings,
Antonia
Spring Love
And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
Like the Spirit of Love, indeed! I am Joyously welcoming the official beginning of Spring this weekend, which can be felt on the gentle breezes, the regenerative energies stirring on these Gloriously sunny days across wine country. Mother Earth is awakening from her slumber, the buds are beginning to burst forth from the fertile ground, the birds are chirping, and preparations are keeping us busy here at the retreat center where I reside. Commonly known as the vernal equinox or spring equinox (ver means spring in Latin), there is a conscientious shift to call it March equinox, allowing for a more planetary awareness, as Spring arrives only in the Northern Hemisphere this Saturday 20 March at 10:32 a.m. PDT.
It’s remarkable to me that so many cultures around the World over the ages have celebrated this auspicious time. The Egyptian Sphinx faces the March equinox, allowing the Sun’s rays to hit it just so, marking this special time of year. It marks the first day of various calendars, including the Iranian and Bahá’í calendars. It’s a holiday in Azerbaijan, India, Afghanistan, and other countries in the Middle East and central Asia. The Jewish Passover usually falls on the first full Moon after the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. The Christian church calculates Easter as the first Sunday after the full Moon on or after the March equinox. This equinox is also known as Ostara.
Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.
Just like Mother Nature, we are always creating anew. It is so important to have clarity on the goals for that which we wish to manifest this year. These thought seeds shall allow for the rebirthing of our lives. Love is in the air, and it’s important to allow Love for others and self to be the source from which we consciously create. You really do deserve the best, Dear Reader, so make it Beautiful.
Love and Spring Blessings,
Antonia
Musings Upon the California Journey
It has been a year since I packed up and left my home of almost eleven years, sunny Los Angeles, and made my way back to my BeLoved Northern California. Perhaps it was my own naivety, as I didn’t realize that living in wine country was still ‘the country”, which allows for fresh air, very little traffic, and many mountains to climb, but is also an adjustment in many cold, cloudy days, rain aplenty, and a whole lot of mud. There’s also an element of isolation from certain social activities and limitations in ones buying potentials. It has brought with it many adventures, joys, challenges, lessons, Beautiful new friends and Blessings. There are days when I miss LaLaLand, and my dear friends there, but then my best friend calls and says something to snap me out of it, like, “I’m on the 405 and LA is just one big parking lot! Do you have a couple of hours to talk?” haha She’s not kidding, and I’m reminded that driving twenty traffic-free minutes through the vineyards to get groceries may not be so bad after all.
When I look up at the Northern California night sky, I am awestruck by the innumerable twinkling stars brightly blanketing the immense, dark vastness above me. Sadly, the sky in LA has but a sparse smattering of what the eye can behold in the North. I was able to experience the night sky at its finest this fall when, after some trepidation, I accepted an invite to a birthday party “up on the mountain”. This would allow me to experience what I’d been hearing about, people living off the grid. I nervously traveled past the vineyards and up a country mountainside to join my friends, promises of amazing live music, dancing, food, and delicious home-brewed ales on my mind. I could have sworn my iPhone laughed at me when I checked it for guidance part way up the mountainside only to find the dreaded ‘no service’ flash at me. “You wanted to experience this,” I reminded myself as I continued my climb through the maze of signless dirt roads. The nearly moonless night allowed me the luxury of not having to witness the steepness of the cliffs on the right of me as I slowly crept along mile after mile, pushing through my city girl fears. I reminded myself of the many dangerous city streets I’d braved, and how traversing a mountain in the dark shouldn’t be so tough. Relief warmed me as I gazed upon the community building and parking lot full of trucks. Yes! People! Wise ones, who know of the necessity for 4-wheel drive vehicles! I took a deep breath, congratulated myself for making it, and gazed up at the sky above me. My jaw dropped. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my life, and I marveled to myself, “Are there really this many stars in the sky?” A friend spotted me and made her way over to welcome me, stopping to point out certain constellations and the milky way. I was overwhelmed by its magnificent Beauty and the knowledge that I was right where I belonged.
I would not wish to choose one side of Beautiful California over the other. While the energy is quite different, there are Wonderful gifts in both locations, and I enjoy being able to share in both. For now, I feel that living in the Northern end is in my best interest. It has already provided such an overwhelming education allowing for my personal growth and expansion, for which I am so Grateful.
Love and Blessings,
Antonia
Stirrings of Spring
As I’ve made my way through the winding roads of the wine country around me, I find myself fascinated by the various manifestations of Beauty the vineyards take on throughout the changing seasons. The fertile lushness of Spring and juicy Summer months, the richly textured shades of Autumn, and the sharp contrast of bright yellow mustard and orange California poppies growing at the feet of the stark, slumbering vines in Winter. I Love the bright colours dancing fancifully as the winds tease the valley floors before making their way up the deep green mountains beyond. While it was my desire for the cheery Spring energy to finally be upon us which sent me in search of it, I’m also consciously in preparation for the energetic shift which will occur with the changing of seasons.
“I’m looking for signs of Spring,” I informed the gardener on the grounds where I reside, “Have you seen any?” I had wanted to learn more about the yellow mustard growing so plentifully across the miles of vineyard surrounding us, and thought he’d be a good resource. I learned that they were volunteers, but that mustard had been planted at the base of the vineyards in years past as a pest deterrent. This is why I saw it so commonly. Well, I welcome the Sunny yellow colour in my surroundings, Dear Reader, especially during the Winter months! The gardener told me to check out the blossoming chard before returning to his gate building project. Yes, a break in the rains, and activity is abustle.
While I have been feeling rather Spring Feverly, I also appreciate that there are two weeks left ahead of us prior to the arrival of the Equinox, when seasons shall officially change, and with it the energies. Right now, we are supported by the waning moon and last weeks of Winter, and I am choosing to utilize it by meditating upon any blocks I may have to the new and exciting things to come. Using this time as a Spring-cleaning of the mind, body and spirit, we can recognize and eliminate that which is no longer serving us. Whether we have outdated beliefs about ourselves and others, general preconceived notions, or behavioral patterns we wish to change, now is the time to release these. Then we can embrace the wonderful life just ahead, where doors shall open and situations shall align bringing forth a life that makes our spirits lift, and heart bloom. Just ahead is that which we truly want to have Spring forth. What could you release to allow yourself to live your best life and dreams?
Love and Blessings,
Antonia
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