WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Rise Up Again
Photo by Ankya Klay
“This work is not for yourself. Kill that spirit of self. If you can rise bring somebody with you.”
Mam’u Charlotte Maxeke
While exploring the landscape of humans next right livelihood, potential and daily conscious actions these questions emerge. Will it benefit all living beings and the earth? is it living and anchored within, and aligned with our values? Will it create more spaciousness for artistry, well being and collaboration with, and on behalf of, others?
As the season changes, leaves fall from the trees, the light wanes and Winter draws near nature teaches us about resilience in the face of a death that is in the natural order of life unfolding.
It has been another challenging year and not one of us has gone untouched.
In my lifetime I have found there are always gifts within the greatest challenges. Indeed, perhaps the spread of a virus to humans across the planet and global climate change has taught us more than anything else that we are all very closely interconnected.
The natural world has been showing humans this since the beginning….and now from our far removed sense of belonging to the whole of everything we are coming back home.
Recognizing that there is a much larger energy moving that will always continue to shift the story asking us to let go of predictions and absolutes while becoming an active innovative participant in the artistry of partnering and deep listening with the Earth.
Nature indeed constantly challenges us to learn to adapt to ever present change, collaborate with other life forms on behalf of well being, and increase our resilience in the process.
If we can live within paradox such as “the only constant is change” or “the only certainty is uncertainty”, then the potential is to live from our unique wholeness as an interconnected living being. One who brings others along as we rise up again and again, creating room to collaborate.
Together, we are so much more resilient than we know.
Thank You to Green Renaissance for this video. Filmed in South Africa
“Elemental Musings” offers postings by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina, in addition to postings by the Wildly Free Elder community.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 11/18/21/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you for doing so!
Finding Home: Pathways to Conscious Embodied Relocation: Stories, guidance and specific pathways and practices to embrace finding a new home base and sanctuary.
Love Much, Think Less
“The important thing is not to think much, but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.”
St Teresa of Avila
For the past 4 months I have been loving Saturday mornings for the local Farmers Market taking place in my new home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of N. Carolina. Today I was moved by a woman standing next to me at my favorite organic farm stall at the University of N. Carolina tailgate market. She had a bunch of sunflowers in her hand and several bunches of dahlias in her carry basket. I exclaimed “those flowers always make me smile!”
Her response back also made me smile as she said “Life is too precious not to have flowers in it . I consider it my therapy and have fresh flowers in my house all the time.” I loved her spontaneous response to me, a stranger whom she shared her love of beauty with. Our connection was one of sharing our love for not only flowers and the sensual pleasure they bring, but also to enjoy the moment of contact and to open that energetic space of love.
Imagining the unseen energies – presence – that surround each flower bringing it from seed to germination to leaf to bloom. Rather like our lives.
At times we are faced with challenges where the energies of love and gratitude seem a million miles away. Thinking takes over contracting us within a cage of our own creation. Yet, I am aware more and more that love is always right here surrounding every living being and every conscious action – even the act of breathing in and out which is intricately interwoven with all life.
What if we saw within each and every challenge, or simply each moment of everyday life, an opportunity to release contracted thinking energy and be present to take actions that “best stir us to love”.
Since relocating across country away from friends, family, sons and grandkids there have been multiple opportunities to shift challenges and release contracted thinking. One of the most powerful ones wiithin the first 4 months being here happened when I “failed” the vision test to obtain a N. Carolina drivers license.
Having scheduled my appointment right before my California drivers license expired on my birthday my thinking mind made it not only mandatory to obtain my new license, but actually had me paralyzed with fear that I might lose my freedom of independence if not able to obtain a drivers license.
I was immersed in this “worry cage” for a few days, but at the same time took conscious actions to shift this thinking that had taken such a strangle hold upon me. First of all putting everything into perspective, knowing that this was not about survival or control but about releasing into “loving much”.
Within 4 days I had an appointment with an ophthalmologist, was corrected to 20/20 vision and heard my cataracts were not at all ready for surgery; obtained corrective glasses the same day from a wonderful caring optician team of people a short distance away; rescheduled my DMV appointment for N. Carolina drivers license for 3 weeks away; learned that having an expired drivers license is not the big deal I thought it was; studied for the written test which I was certain I was going to have to take; drove to a small little town one and a half hours away for the completion of the DMV process; was in and out in 15 minutes without having to take the written test (better N. Carolina driver because of the intense study!) and walked away with license, new ID card and was registered to vote.
All of this to say that for most of us we always have choice as to how we meet each moment of our lives whether in patterns of assumptions/contracted thinking/fear or with the openness of possibility, living in the spaciousness of love and gratitude.
Like an artist trusting the creative energy that emerges from within we dip our brush in the colors of life and do that which best stirs us to love.
“Elemental Musings” offers postings by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina, in addition to postings by the Wildly Free Elder community.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 8/14/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you for doing so!
A Touch of Magic
“Elemental Musings” offers weekly postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
Having been born and raised on the West Coast of California I had never seen fireflies. That is until I moved to Vermont some years back and found this magical display of flickering white lights all over the grass, bushes and trees. I felt as if I was a small child filled with wonder in those moments. I still do….
Now I find myself in N. Western North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains where I settled a mere 4 months ago now. One evening a couple of weeks I ago I was drawn to my screened in porch to sit out in the balmy night listening to the night sounds of cicadas and occasional bird calls as the darkness descended like a curtain wrapping me in soft moisture laden air like an embrace.
It wasn’t long before I noticed the flickers of light among the trees and on the lawn below. What is it about these small creatures who must certainly be a member of the fairy family? They only show us their bio-luminescence, which is 100% cold light energy, for a couple of months as they mate and then they are gone.
As I rocked in the swing in the screened in porch an alternate realm invited me in. What would it be like to magically part the screen that contains me in my human world and take flight among the trees and grass merging with the night as I wait for the dancing light of my potential mate to find me.
In human life, where magic and mysticism took a back seat long ago, perhaps it is time to bring it back……
Post by Gaye Abbott, 8/2/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you for doing so!
Embodied Transitions
Blue Ridge Mountain Sunrise, Photography by Gaye Abbott
“Elemental Musings” offers daily postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
A morning person I have always been, at least for as long as I can remember back over the timeline of this embodied life. I can’t imagine any better way to start a day than to see the sun rise, listen to the birds celebrate with their varied calls, breathe in the morning air laden with moisture and feel in my bones a transition into rain soon…very soon.
Shifts and transitions are continually happening even if we don’t pay attention – within and without. Energy constantly shape shifting bringing magic and tragedy, delight and sadness, awe and forgetfulness. Are we paying attention, or lost in the mundane mainstream detailed oriented life we actually have never felt at “home” within.
Sitting on the porch of my friends home where I am house sitting I was gifted with the sunrise above. Within minutes it shifted to a gray cloudy sky with a light rain. If I was distracted for even a moment I would have missed this transition.
Aging for me seems to bring with it a desire to not miss the transitions. Instead, to actively participate in them by being fully present. For it is in these moments that life happens. Not the planned event in the future or the worry, or even excitement, over what might happen tomorrow.
If I would have become distracted and gone inside thinking the nature show was over with and focusing on a breakfast agenda, I would have missed this grand wild turkey greeting. That would have been my great loss.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/30/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you for doing so!
Nature’s Medicine
“Elemental Musings” offers daily postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
I have always felt, even as a small child, that nature in all of her beauty and unpredictability was a sanctuary where I felt most “at home”. As I watched the short film below about 95-year-old Oom (uncle) Johannes and his relationship with nature a sense of kinship filled my heart.
This wise elder, his stories, daily seeking for natures healing herbs, deep connection with the natural world, and his intimate awareness of what sustains us as human beings is the type of “medicine to the soul” we need to shift consciousness as we continue to re-discover this deep interconnection that has always been present.
To follow our film making journey – https://www.patreon.com/greenrenaissance More information about Oom Johannes’s herbs and the work he does – https://kruiekraaikoning.co.za Filmed in the Karoo, near Beaufort West, South Africa.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/29/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you for doing so!
Embodying Wildness
Artwork by Alex Grey
“For many years, at great cost, I traveled through many countries, saw the mountains and the oceans. The only things I did not see were the sparkling dewdrops in the grass just outside my door.”
~Robirdranath Tagore
Many of us find ourselves domesticated. Adhering to the demands and expectations, not only of our society and culture, but from our own deeply grooved patterns of thinking that formed over the many years we have inhabited this lifetime.
When we reach elderhood – a state of being, not an age – we take stock of who we have become and perhaps question where the wild, free, playful and passionate one is hiding. Wild being the essence of who we are in our wholeness. The one who rests in the pause, finding our value not in the outside world, but from deep within.
We may become more of who we are in our essence than we have ever been before. What a rich time of life as we step into the heart of our being and artistry!
Yet we face challenges and vulnerabilities that we have never faced before. Does this impact our willingness to be in our wild untamed nature? It may. Yet it does not have to.
Having traveled many miles in our skin, bones and unique body support system we may have missed the one whom we have come here to be.
It is now in the diversity of our wisdom years that we realize why we are here. It is in the “sparkling dewdrops in the grass” just outside our door.
That wild and free nature has been there all along – you have only to say yes to it honoring the voice inside who whispers sweet trust and love into your ear…..
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/28/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you if you do!
The Twisted Tree
“Elemental Musings” offers daily postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
“The twisted tree lives its life, while the straight tree ends up in planks.” – Chinese proverb
Have you ever reflected on the many twists and turns your life has taken as an embodied human being?
Even in one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz, the infamous yellow brick road twists and turns and along the way Dorothy meets each new character that will help her to return “home”.
The beautiful unique tree in the image above, as well as the Chinese proverb, reminds me that trying to go a straight path anywhere may be a waste of energy and lead to a mundane life following others and cultures direction but never really birthing our uniqueness.
How much more interesting to be spontaneous, take risks, follow our passion, and inhabit every single one of our senses and creativity. The circumstances af our lives will naturally take us on many twists and turns if we do not resist, accepting and trusting the unfolding of it all.
As I reflect on this beautifully twisted tree I am reminded of a free form style of dance called contact improvisation/soul motion where one is lead by the flow of energy, spontaneous connection and inner guidance to become one with the movement as dance art that changes and shifts from one moment to the next in relationship with yourself and others on the dance floor.
I don’t know about you, but I would much rather live my life as a twisted, elegant tree in each moment – an artistry that is so unique it can never be replicated….ever!
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/27/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you if you do!
.
You Only Die Once, But You Live Every Day
Photo by Gaye Abbott, July 2021/Sunrise Blue Ridge Mountains NC
“Elemental Musings” offers daily postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
We are composed of all elements that make up this amazing Universe. How can we ever think we are separate.
The early morning this photo was taken I was mesmerized by the ever changing colors in the sky, the shifting cloud formations, and the miracle that I was present in these very moments to be part of it. A dance of life!
Have you ever thought about quality of life moments versus years lived?
For some it is when death touches us that we allow ourselves to contemplate, and come closer to, the relationship with our own potential death and that of our loved ones. The unique choices we will make when embodied time is drawing to a close.
“Death is giving us a gift by teaching us to love in the moment.”
In these precious moments you are reading this post, and perhaps watching the beautiful video of this nurse who is at last exploring the territory of her feelings about fully living every day and embracing the wholeness of life and who she is.
A grand unique life dance that only we know the steps to.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/26/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you if you do!
Share this:
Elemental Musings
(N. Carolina UNC Botanical Gardens, Photo by Gaye Abbott)
“Elemental Musings” offers daily postings, for an undetermined amount of time, by a nature lover and elder in transition in the Blue Ridge Mountain area of North Western N. Carolina.
Sunday moments where a brilliant butterfly skims over the surface of the nearby creek where I am seated on a stone bench, whose cool surface permeates up through my body delivering stone energy that has been around much longer than I have.
A light sweat brings moisture to all surfaces of my skin, most noticeable on face, neck and chest. No longer in California I celebrate the recent rains that have brought this about, rising from the Earth back into the air and nourishing all creatures in this lush temperate rain forest area of the U.S.
Taking a “wrong path” in the University of N. Carolina botanical gardens ending up at a “dead end”. Yet it seems there are no “wrong” paths, simply adventures in learning and being. There are no “dead ends” for one can always turn around and rediscover the path just taken with new awareness.
Drinking in the calming sound of water flowing over rocks punctuated here and there by human voices and families. Young children in wonder running the earth paths for the pure joy of it while mom follows behind with back pack equipped with everything a filled with energy young child will need on this nature excursion. I wonder where adult wonder and awe have gone to these days. More is needed to steward this precious planet.
Pink flowers everywhere. They beg you to come closer and introduce yourself, and when you do the sweetest smell permeates your senses into every nook and cranny of your being. I have forgotten my phone with camera and am aware that I long to take a picture of this beauty. But she will not reveal the secrets of the name humans have given her for there is so much more to explore than identification.
The moments of this day could have been used up with planning for the week to come or even studying for the written drivers license test I must take on Tuesday, but instead I have chosen to commune with the natural world, breathe in the sweet smells of flowers, and listen to the conversations of the native trees that have great wisdom to bring and sweet oxygen for us to breathe…..if we would only listen.
Post by Gaye Abbott, 7/25/21, Natural Passages Consulting.
We ask that you reference Wildly Free Elder if you wish to pass this on…and thank you if you do!
An Authentic Unsettled Life
Photo by Gaye Abbott, Weaverville, N. Carolina
The beautiful woman in the video below expresses a choice to live an unsettled yet very authentic life.
Exploring, questioning and never settling for status quo. Unstructured in a way that feels like a dance where the next steps won’t reveal themselves until your foot touches the earth. .
As a wildly free elder we learn to create a “living line” NOT a “dead line”. Or perhaps more appropriately a living spiral or Flower of Life as in sacred geometry, symbolizing creation and a reminder of the unity of everything.
We are constantly given opportunities to be lead by curiosity, take risks, and steward the emergence of our own unique expression, artistry and imagination.
The day I captured the perfect shadow mountain range (which only lasted for a few minutes) in the image of the Blue Ridge Mountains above it opened a doorway to my own unexpressed artistry that is quite often kept hidden in the shadows.
What if we brought that uniqueness, often not seen or expressed, out into the Light?
Video by Green Renaissance
Post by Gaye Abbott, July 2021, Wildly Free Elder
WILDLY FREE ELDER 