A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. January's Theme: "Path"
Volume 9 Issue 2 ISSN# 1708-3265

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Illuminations Aleesha Sattva About the Cover Claudette Dean Shhh… Self Is Speaking Dj Brown-Jewett Finding The Way Home Julie Hoyle The Pain of Why John Ptacek And Then I Grew a Pair! David Reber Mystical Paths Cheryl Jewett-Brown Ph.D. Two Poems; Love and Meant to Be Jennifer Kusz The Garden Parzival Sattva Pet-Sense Jean Hofve, DVM Let's Talk Tarot Marcia McCord Living… Naturally Nicole Gardner Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Walk Your Talk Aleesha Sattva Po and the Stones Phil Kotofskie Wiccan Voices Crystal Blanton, HPs Meditate a Moment Parzival Sattva Password Deva Premal Oasis Gary Stroutsos

Living… Naturally ~ The Path ~ with Nicole Gardner There are as many paths through life as there are beings upon this Earth who will walk them. We each have to find our own way, but how do we gain a sense of direction? Sometimes we stumble through life, feeling lost and unsure of ourselves, blundering along, and at other times we are soaring high, full of bliss and vitality. Path: the way, the way of life, a course of action or conduct. The way of non-violence. The way of peace. The path of loving-kindness. And compassion. The path of gratitude. The path of connection. There is the path of the unconscious, and the path of the conscious, or what I tend to think of as a focus on the destination or the journey. So often we're caught in the mindset that the destination is some version of success we have cooked up; maybe it's the nuclear family in a single family home, international vacations, a sizeable retirement fund and so on, but ultimately, is it not how we are — how we behave — as we journey through life that will, in the end, be the ultimate sign of our success? The ultimate destination, after all, is always the same. Consciously choosing the path we travel through life is about defining the values we believe in and then making an effort to live a life that is in alignment with — that is an expression of — those values. Raising the next generation, our culture passes on its implicit beliefs and values, 'though most often these are not openly discussed. We absorb these values and adopt them as our own without much forethought. It's just what is common, like 'comfort food.' Often, during adolescence or our early adult years, we challenge those beliefs and values in an effort to define ourselves, to bring the light of consciousness into our lives, to find our life's purpose. And I, for one, remember that process as being rather uncomfortable. Despite that search for meaning as adolescents, we grow into our adult years and sometimes lose that yearning, that pull, for meaning. Before you know it, years have passed, and we feel isolated and separate from one another. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in our 21st century Western culture, where technology is marketed as keeping us connected when what it really does is disconnect us from the life we're living. Walking along the busy city sidewalk, we're all plugged into our cell phones and other devices, rather than actually making eye contact and greeting our fellow beings with smiles and awareness. Remembering our interconnectedness — that we are One with all that is — well, that's a lofty concept for us to live by when we're inundated with stresses all around us in our modern lives. And that's the challenge: to create a life of meaning amidst the chaos. Taking the time to define values that one chooses to live by is empowering. It's something we can do again and again as we journey through life, a check that we're on a path that we are creating with conscious intent. This column has taken me a lot longer to write than perhaps it should have, because I got sidetracked with a list of several hundred values (close to 1,000?) that I found online, narrowing it down to just under three hundred, then down to one hundred, then grouping them into similar themes of about twenty. At that point I created a mind map of the themes, as they were, for me, so intertwined. What I saw in those twenty themes were ways of being that really express who I am (how I define myself), and who I want to become. One theme I labelled gratitude, and it included values such as altruism, benevolence, generosity, thankfulness, making a difference, being of service, contributing. Another I labelled integrity, with its accompanying values of purity, humility, sincerity, honesty, truth, faith, loyalty, virtue, and fidelity. Going through the list, each time choosing words that popped out or sat well with me, I saw an increasingly clear reflection of myself. I saw my tendency to be introverted in values such as sensitivity, intuitiveness, serenity, stillness, tranquility, and calm. I saw my inclination towards order in words such as organization, usefulness, utility, preparedness, and tidiness — this expresses itself in how I like things put back in their place and not left where they were used, leaning towards simplicity in my home's decor. Lest you think I'm a stick in the mud, there was the theme of playfulness, with fun, humour, imagination, and aliveness. And connection with others, with family, love, closeness, heart and compassion, and with the the community in support, cordiality, friendliness, kindness, helpfulness, sharing and thoughtfulness. The themes that emerged led me to question how the actions I was taking in my life — teaching tai chi, or working on the local organic farm, or even in the daily, sometimes seemingly inconsequential, decisions made about what products I buy, what foods I eat, in what I say (and how I say it) when communicating with others — how these actions were connected to the values I had defined. Was I doing work I felt passionate about? Was I creating a home environment which nurtured my children's growth and development? Was I living a life in alignment with my values? Would I leave the world a better place than when I'd found it? With the new year upon us, regardless of how you feel about resolutions, I urge you to take some time to reflect upon the path you have walked thus far in life — are you proud of how you have handled situations and relationships? Are you doing work you love? Living a lifestyle you cherish? Do you give support to and have the support of the wider community around you? Do you have clearly defined values that determine your actions? Let each moment in 2012 be a reaffirmation of your choice to walk a path that you have consciously created. Nicole Gardner is a Raw Vegan, retired LLL leader and homeschooling mama with a B.A. (Psych). She's also a Reiki M/T who teaches Tai Chi and a Master Composter. Currently she's working on an organic farm and loving the experience. She is most interested in living a life in accordance with her values. She believes in lifelong learning, permaculture, organic gardening, building with cob, nonviolent communication (NVC), hiking, rowing and has fasted for over 100 days. And if that's not a varied enough life, she also runs a business bringing monthly bulk raw food orders to the Sooke and Greater Victoria areas. You can learn more by visiting her blog rawfoodsooke.blogspot.com today! She is also blessed to share a rural west coast lifestyle with her husband, children, one dog, two cats, and twenty-one chickens.

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