Moving to a Peaceful Setting

It is making such a difference to be living in a peaceful setting.

It would not be everyone’s goal to move to the country, using what skills you have to finish the inside of a cabin, collect rainwater, read by flashlight, and start a garden from scratch.

But, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

In fact, I like this world much better.

Today, I was able to take my first “garden” shower.  It has warmed up enough that the camping shower, plus a quart of heated water was very pleasant outdoors.

We still have our indoor camping shower, which we mix with cold and hot water to the right temperature, but it was nice to be able to bathe surrounded by Nature.

We have been walking back and forth to our covered deck where I have set up my gardening supplies.

I have over sixty plants from two plant sales, and about half of them are in containers now, ready to grow in earnest.

I used rainwater which I collected in five-galling buckets from the roof of the covered deck.

My soil mix is in thirds - coir (coconut fiber), vermiculite #3, and compost.  A dozen five-gallon buckets now hold various herbs, squash, kale and peppers.

Another two dozen of a different commercial organic soil mix will hold peppers, tomatoes and more herbs.

The same soil mix will be in a raised garden bed for more veggies and flowers.

I will add various supplemental microbial stimulants to enrich the soil.

And then, we will see what happens.

We are still preparing the garden fence, as we are next to a wildlife conservation area in addition to our own wildlife inhabitants. 

We listen to jazz on the radio as we pick up our raw milk from a local dairy.

We watch the fireflies come out at night.

Tonight, it is cloudy, so we will expect some more rain to help our garden grow.

It is a different, lush setting for two city folks, who are rapidly learning about country living.

Sharing the peace…

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Leaving the Storm

I am learning to leave the storm behind, rather than just take relief from it.

Every time I reestablish my peace, it is more real to me.

Even though I experience interruptions to my peace, the deeper truth is becoming more and more convincing to me.

The peace is always there.

I am learning to come back to it, because it is always there.

The extremes which took me away are becoming less and less powerful as I find I can return to peace more and more.

I am also learning not to complain about the negative things, but to spend all my effort on returning myself to peace.

I am learning to leave the storm completely behind.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Keeping My Calm

I had a wonderful day and was walking around our land with my husband.  We found a large dump area that our neighbor in front of part of our land has been building.  Eew!  Sheet metal, dirt, and everything else!

What to do?

We started reviewing our property bounds and will certainly order a current survey.

But what about the bad  feelings that came along with the discovery?

After exploring several options, I have decided on this point of view:

Divine peace is always one hundred percent in effect.

I will keep drawing on it.

It never lessens.

It is unconditional.

It is in operation no matter what is going on in anyone’s life.

We all have access to it all the time.

I am sure we will find out what we need to know about he property line, and if there is no violation, once the season fills in the leaves on the trees, it will not be in view.

But the main thing for me, is maintaining my peace no matter what happens since I can draw on the Infinite Divine Peace which is always there, all the time, no matter what else is going on.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Peace and Happiness

I am so grateful for the sense of peace and happiness that I am feeling.

It is proof to me that despite the confusion of the news stories and sadness of many of our Congressional leaders, there is more good in the world than bad.

I hear discussions about the important things, and I see that so many of them are being taken care of.

I know that despite the problems, there are already solutions.

I know that despite the fact that many of the available solutions are being ignored, at some point many of them will be enacted, and many new ones will appear.

I know that we are all being given the opportunity to reevaluate what is important in our lives, always a valuable and rich process.

I know that as I make positive changes in my life, I am being led to better and better solutions.

Our lives form a microcosm of all of the lives all over the world.

We are each reaching out for solutions, and despite the fact that many of them appear to be in the hands of less than noble people, our individual answers can still come to us in the most effective ways.

I am listening within and I am feeling peace and happiness.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Moving Peacefully to the Next Step

Sometimes the idea is so big, we really can’t see all of it at once.

We work on what we envision, and then wait for the next step.

And the next, and the next.

I am learning to move peacefully into the next steps, because I now know I cannot see the whole of this idea that I am embarked on.

It really is a journey; it has expanded into much more than a path.

But still, I take each next step.

It is leading me into a much larger world.

As I continue, I find I am loosing my anxiety and gaining many other useful skills.

I am so incredibly grateful to be learning how to live peacefully.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Criticism and Acceptance

I have been looking for a replacement for criticism, and I think I have found it:  Appreciation.

I am thinking of it in terms of building up a paper mache sculpture.

Each strip of newspaper soaked with glue becomes a part of the sculpture.

I can shape it as I go.

It creates smooth layers to build up each feature, and lets me adjust the finer points where I need to.

By contrast, criticism hacks at what I am creating.

It is harsh and unrefined.

The new path I am building for myself is based on self-appreciation and appreciation of others every time I see someone or think about someone.

I am no longer interested in my opinion unless it is appreciative of something about the person.

I reject the years I spent being harshly criticized, and thank the Universe for Its resources in helping me escape to a better place through creativity and engagement in other projects.

Now, I find that the old habit of criticism has run its course.

I am glad to discover another way to live with increasing happiness and appreciation.

I look forward to all those little strips of appreciation I can add to my life-sculpture all along my new path.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com

Deeper Rhythms

Underneath the daily rhythms of life, there are larger, more powerful rhythms which impel us forward.

As a society, we are beginning to see what happens when the daily rhythms are pushed forward by the deeper rhythms.

Our day-to-day lives are impacted by local and national policy decisions.

Our larger rhythms have to do with the planet, and even beyond that, the Universe.

The larger rhythms of caring for everyone with the planet’s resources are impelled by the Universe’s care for us all.

We are each of us, precious.

The rain falls and the wind blows over the whole planet.

Things grow over the whole planet.

Wherever people live, they can choose to take care of each other.

When we get below all the noise, the policies, and even cultural norms and personal preferences, we feel the deepest rhythms.

This is where our true and unlimited resources lie.

This is where we find ourselves in synchronization with the largest designs of the Universe.

We get beyond just taking care of ourselves, and we act to see everyone live well.

When we consciously realize this, we are moved by a different rhythm.

We feel ourselves directed in a different way, with different motives, with an unstoppable power.

The conflict between the personal, expressed as nationalism, and then corporatism, is giving way to the largest rhythm of all.

It helps if we have the vocabulary to listen for it.

But even if we don’t, we will acquire it, because this is what is impelling a new kind of consciousness.

Soon we will give way to living as though all of us are precious.

© 2015 Kathryn Hardage

www.InspiredPractices.com