Dear reader, this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
If your leaders guide you astray – away from what you know to be right and true and good, you must let your heart guide you instead. Trust yourself!
When your leaders are mistaken, misguided, ill informed, emotionally stunted, you yourself must step up and be a force for good in the world. You don’t have to shine on a national stage, run for elected office, or head a large corporation to make a positive difference in the web of all things.
Grandmother Cottonwood, winter afternoon
I ask you to allow yourself to become a force for good and kindness, guided by your heart and by Source in your own life, within your own sphere of influence.
If you feel alone in your beliefs and actions, hold fast! Do the right thing and you will respect yourself and gain confidence. Others of like mind will be drawn to you. And you will create ripples of compassion and loving kindness in the web of life.
The ripples you create flow from the center of your spirit and touch all things on the energetic level, the level of spirit. All creatures benefit from your heart’s wisdom and your wise and kind actions.
Let your guidance and leadership come from within, from the depths of your heart and spirit. Let Source be your partner, and you will make the world a kinder safer place.
Dear reader, this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
Yes, I repeat myself once again with rooting and grounding theme. I do this because so many humans walk this earth with their awareness and their spirits partially outside of their bodies.
The energy of ungrounded humans feels as though it floats in space without an anchor or home. This causes many to feel anxious and unmoored. Ungrounded people are disconnected from a vital source of life-giving energy.
Making sure you are grounded in times of trial and uncertainty, when you feel spacey anxious or disconnected.
Here is one simple way to anchor yourself with my friends and cousins the trees. Which tree are you drawn to? Oak, sycamore, sweet gum, hackberry, cedar palmetto, beech, elm, walnut, fir, hickory, maple, ash, cherry, apple, spruce, poplar, aspen, magnolia, pine, cottonwood, mesquite, …?
Grandmother Cottonwood
Choose your favorite tree. If needed, find a picture of a magnificent tree to help your imagination see the details.
Now envision for a few moments that you too are a magnificent tree. Bear with me, you don’t have to tell anyone else about this…
Now imagine that you have roots reaching deeply into the soil, gripping the earth. Your roots range in size from mighty ones the size of main branches, tapering down to the tiny tenacious hair like roots that draw in nourishment directly from the soil.
Strong roots
With your imagination see and feel your roots reaching deeper into the soil and subsoil, through the bedrock and mantle of the Earth to the molten core. (Anything is possible in your imagination)
Now as you breathe in, pull in the anchoring Earth energy up into your feet, legs and lower torso to fill the cells of your physical being and help bring your awareness into your body – where you are meant to live.
Now you are plugged into the frequency of the planet.
Breathe the Earth energy in through your roots and let it travel upward through your trunk and branches through the tips into your leaves. Do this breathing several times as you imagine the energy filling your from the center of the Earth up.
Interwoven branches and nest
Feel yourself relax and become one with our planet. Allow the Earth energy to soak into every cell of your body.
Let the trees show you anchoring. This simple practice can help calm you. No equipment or expensive accessories are needed, no experience or skill required.
All you need to tap into Earth energy are your heart, imagination and intention.
Dear reader, this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
Dear one, do you feel shaky, off balance, flighty, un-tethered?
Our great mother, the Earth asks you to lie down heart to heart, belly to belly with her and absorb her loving grounding energy into your body.
When you feel anxious she will calm you, when you feel unmoored, she will give you solidity. When you are tired, she will fill you with energy. When you feel lost, she will provide a home, a safe resting place, a solid foundation.
Go to the Earth when you find yourself off balance, jittery, bereft.Let her energy heal you.
Let her envelope you in the energy, the safety, and feeling of home. Know that we belong to each other!
Dear reader, this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
Can you allow yourself an hour or two of contentment each day? If that seems like a tall order, how about 15 minutes?
A few minutes, an hour or two of simply feeling at peace with your life, letting go of wanting something you don’t have, letting go of striving for the next goal, letting go of pushing ahead, letting go of forcing things to happen, will bring a refreshing new serenity to your life.
Grandmother Cottonwood
The energy frequency of contentment ripples through the web of life bringing more peace to all living beings on this earth.
Contentment is living in the moment. It is bringing your awareness to the here and now and knowing that life is good, that you have everything you need for this hour, that in this moment and the next and next, all is well.
For this hour of contentment, there is nowhere you have to go, no one you have to meet, nothing you have to do unless it contributes to your happiness.
When you know contentment, your body
mind and spirit feel calm, relaxed, and satisfied. Can you give
yourself this precious gift?
Dear readers this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
Rumors of the demise of Mother Earth have been greatly exaggerated. This planet will endure, she will continue spinning on her axis, orbiting the sun. Day will follow night. The sun will rise in the East. The ancient cycle of seasons will endure, the moon will wax, become full, wane, then begin again in darkness.
Full Moon
The ancient cycles will endure even if humans are no longer here to witness the beauty, to name the seasons, and study the stars
Humans are slowly committing suicide as they ignore the warning signs of the stressed and overtaxed environment and atmosphere. I ask you to slow down and listen to your Great Grandmother the Earth. Learn her language. Pay attention to her signs, symbols, her distress call.
When you learn her language, the language of the web of life, you will learn the ancient ways of survival on this planet. You will learn to respect the amazing intelligence built up over eons of time within every living thing and every living system.
Tuning in to the messages and intricate interconnections of the web of life and hearing the voices of all living things here on this planet still means survival.
Technology in your pocket, shiny objects, expensive homes will not save or buffer you from the reality that you are a part of this web of life, a part of nature. We survive together!
Take action to divest yourselves and your human cultures of greed and corruption. Stop over-consuming our precious resources and hoarding wealth for only a few. These things damage the web of life.
Learn to use only what you need. Learn to be humble. Learn to love each step you take on Mother Earth, each breath you take into your miraculous body, each beat of your heart.
Wake up and embrace your precious life on this precious Earth!
Dear reader, this post is from the archives of AskGCW.
You humans have built an amazing civilization. But I wonder, Dear Ones, does it lift you up in ways that feed your spirit and serve your soul?
You all have within you the energetic memories of a time when humans were in tune with the spirits of the land, connected to nature, free to choose their path and direction, when they lived a simpler life and danced around a fire deep into the night.
Inuksuit
Let me be frank. You have been domesticated and tamed. Of course at first your need for domestication was about survival on this planet with unpredictable weather, predatory animals, unstable food sources, sudden accidents…
And now you have these basics, you have evolved systems of farming and food storage, medical care, learned to keep yourselves safe, the dangerous animals at bay…
But now what? Have things gone too far?
Have you sold your souls and your autonomy for the convenience of a sleek little phone, 2 cars in the garage, a paid off mortgage the best schools for your kids?
I’m telling you, you can reclaim your wild spirit, your deep soul that is your birthright, while retaining what is good and useful in your civilizations for your survival on the planet and a thriving life.
What is your definition of a thriving life?
If you are restless, if you feel you are missing that deep part of you, that something precious has gone, learn to tap into your true and untamed and fierce heart. Do not give yourself away or betray this part of you for love or money or the illusion of safety.
This inner fire is your true inheritance from those ancestors of the deep past who survived, from those who painted on torch-lit cave walls, who learned to speak to spirits and survive in harmony with our Earth’s rhythms and cycles, who found life a sacred trust, a gift of the ancestors.
Reclaim this deep abiding center of yourselves by living consciously. You get to choose what to keep, what to let go of in your life.
You alone can discern what makes your heart sing, what causes dullness and heaviness in your spirit, what lifts you up, what drags you down.
Live as though every moment is sacred, every living thing is holy, every person precious, with your wild untamed heart and spirit at the center of your beautiful life
You who are alive at this moment in time, those who are called to live here upon this Earth – You are needed now more than ever to be at the top of your game, to keep yourself clear of emotional clutter and baggage, to be clear and open channels for spirit for the specific gifts and talents you bring to this place and time, the home your spirit has chosen for you.
All who can, this is the time to stand tall in the light of the divine. This is the time to root deeply to our home, the Earth.
Grandmother Cottonwood
This is the time to hold your ground, maintain your light, keep yourselves attuned to the frequencies of life. This is the time to know your truth and live by it.
This is the time to love and cherish every breath, every beat of your heart. This is the time to access the power deep within yourself. This is the time to open to those beloved people in your life and love them with your whole heart, leaving judgment behind.
This life of the spirit is a mystery. There is no beginning, no end. While your spirit inhabits your body, there is only the river of now in which you have the power to act.
Grandmother Cottonwood
It is time to surrender to spirit’s plan for you, to cease any dithering and get to work!
It is time to dedicate yourself to the flow of inspiration and energy that is drawn through your being and create our world anew.
Dear humans, do you need a focus for your caring energy? Try a houseplant or two… We are living beings you can grow to love and enjoy.
Get to know us, speak to us with kindness and encouragement, meet our simple needs and we will bless you with all that is in our power.
We have been given the honor to share your space and your life. For this we thank you. We have so much more to give than meets the eye. We can communicate through touch, through telepathy, through intuition, thorough energy.
We can sense your moods and intentions. We know at a fundamental level the beat and energy of your heart. We are affected by negative news media, by loud and harsh noises, by violence nearby, by the energies of anger and fear. We are sentient beings, more sensitive more aware than you think.
We respond well to kind voices, the energy of love, an atmosphere of peace. We mirror you. If we are wilted, dried up, yellowed, leggy, or vigorous, strong, brightly colored, or blooming look into your own life and see how the same may be true for you.
Are your roots shallow or deep? Are they rotten from over watering? Is the soil in your container depleted or nourishing and supportive of life? Are you blooming? Going to seed? In this way we act as a metaphor for your self awareness.
We cannot speak your human languages. If you take the time and gather the patience you can tune into our way of communicating. Quiet your minds, use your fingertips. Listen to your intuition and trust the messages you receive from us. In this way you expand your experience of what is possible and form deeper connections with nature.
When you bring a plant into your home, you imbue your life with the sweet green energy of nature
We bless your home! You provide a controlled atmosphere and temperature, consistent lighting. You water and fertilize us when needed. You protect us from storms freezes and extreme heat, you take pleasure in our color and form our blooming growth habits.
We soften the sharp edges of your home and life.
We are far from passive ornaments to be watered and dusted once a year. We cleanse the air you breathe we convert sunlight to beauty. We provide pools of peace and calm in your homes. We bring the zen of nature indoors.
Please do not take us for granted. Let us coexist in partnership with you.
We may seem silent and still. As companions we’re not as exciting as puppies or kittens, but we communicate, we exchange energy and signals with others of our kind, with you too, if you quiet your mind and learn to hear our language.
We communicate via telepathy. You can tune into our frequencies and enter our world. Let us show you how to help us thrive. We can communicate to you our needs for water light and air. We can communicate peace and calm.
We thrive when you speak to us and think of us with kindness. The energy and feeling behind your words matter. We soak in your love, your caring. We are damaged by harsh words in our environment, mean feelings and the vibrations of violence. We are sensitive to you and your energy, you cannot pretend with us.
We are friends who demand little, who give much. Let us coexist in beautiful partnership.
So much has been lost this year, so much destroyed by wild fire, high winds, furious storms, a deadly pandemic. Now it is time to rebuild and create new lives from the ashes.
Grandmother Cottonwood
Will you rebuild on the same models, in the same places with the same materials, the same ideas? Will you stay with what worked in the past?
Take into account all that has changed as you plan to create and rebuild. Sands shift, weather and climate change, fires and winds roar through, people die, babies are born. Rebuild and recreate your new reality that is now.
You are called to embrace the present moment and the coming moment and the next and the next. You are called to be flexible and resilient. You are called to stay relevant to your own life,
You are called to take the time to mourn what has been and let it go, to face the present and future with eyes open. Can you do this with resolve? Can you do this without preconceived notions of what should be?
Where there is destruction and damage in your life can you rebuild, renew, and restore to a newer and better present? When your creations no longer serve you can you let them go with grace, move on, clear out, rebuild life from the ground up, one brick, one stone at a time?
What feels like destruction? Leaving a longtime relationship, moving to a new town, losing a loved one or a job, losing your home, injury, disease, accident …
These destructive events are “back to square one times” in the the constantly unfolding creative process called life. They can create new realities that may usher in fresh new thoughts, feelings, habits, ways of being and relating.
If you are brittle and unyielding, the storms of life may break you. you may find the damage difficult to repair. You may get stuck without a framework for creating a new life from the wreckage of the old.
Grandmother Cottonwood
When you are flexible like the willow tree and bend with life’s high winds, you will build strength needed to weather the inevitable destructive events, earthquakes, volcanoes of life. This flexibility will help you create and invent new ways of living in your present moments.
It is time to create new life affirming ways of being, living, thinking, and relating in the world that is now.
Ask Grandmother Cottonwood 