Choosing Joy

I was all excited to get back to posting today. Vacation is over, and I also completed my final shamanic workshop in the mystery school I've been in since August 08. So many great things to share.

And then the news of more deaths in Iran, especially of how one woman's death--caught on camera--is galvanizing protests against the re-election of Ahmadinejad. How can I gush about how wonderful life is when--well, in the face of so much evidence that life can be downright awful?

Plus, I really want a hiatus from politics in general.

But I look at what's happening in Iran and even in my own hometown, and I know life CAN be wonderful. We can love each other and give and receive joy. The world--the universe--is an amazing, awesome thing--even in spite of such suffering.

This calla lily is one of many that have bloomed this year in our garden. I'm awestruck by its simplicity and beauty. I've been meditating on it for days now, and I feel it symbolizes the universe itself. As I've been processing everything that occurred during my shamanic training, I keep coming back to this calla lily. I see "god" in it; call it the Creator or divinity or whatever you prefer. Within this lily are the same materials within us, the same particles that make up the dust of stars.

We have to choose to see these connections. Many in the world choose otherwise. Look to Iran, to our own government's failings and, maybe, to your own family. Maybe even into your own heart.

This last shamanic workshop was the perfect ending; unlike most of the others, there wasn't anything I didn't like! It all closed on the perfect note. There are many people I met whom I may never see again, and yet I feel so grateful to have crossed paths with them in this school, to have brushed up against them. Some I really like, some not so much. But all proved to be capable of great love and sharing, exhibited in a variety of ways. When we approach each other out of mutual respect and love, what we can create is limitless.

Why can't our entire existence be filled in this way? I don't know the answer. I guess I'm offering this lily as a token of hope to the world, to Iran, to my partner and my family--and to each one of you. I wish each of you could feel the joy that I have recently experienced. I wish that joy could take root inside and nurture you, giving you whatever you need most.

There is another way to live. Come what may, be bold enough to make that choice.