Author Archives: Paula Josa-Jones

Feb2

perfection

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Photo:  Pam White

Nothing needs to be fixed. Everything is unfolding perfectly. So when you stand in your now accepting that all is well, then from that vibration, you become surrounded by more and more evidence that all is well. But when you’re convinced that things are broken, that there is pollution, or that things have gone wrong, or that the government is doing conspiracies… then what happens is you get caught up in that vibration, and you begin to manifest that kind of stuff, and then you say, “See, I told you that things were going wrong.”

— Abraham, Excerpted from the workshop in North Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, March 7th, 2000

I got this in my inbox from Abraham last week.  It sums up pretty perfectly what I have been practicing.  Appreciation and being ok with what is here now.  To not focus on what I don’t want to bring home with me.

Two nights ago I started to read a story in the New Yorker.  It was about the Rutgers student who committed suicide because of online bullying.  I read less than one sentence, and then closed the magazine.  I know about it and that s enough – more than enough.  I don’t need to explore it.

The same thing goes for the pre-election scuffling, posturing and ranting.  There is really nothing there for me.  I will probably work for the candidate of my choice, but I will be looking to frame things in an expansive, positive way, rather than getting caught up in the fear-rage muck.

I realized a while back that there are certain chronic vibrations/mind states that are very hard to shift.  The scarcity mentality is one of those. If I am convinced that there will never be enough, there certainly will not be enough.  If I cannot feel my way toward a sense of plenty, then that fullness cannot find me.

So here is what I do.  I do not focus there.  I pet a dog/cat/horse or put on some music and dance, or drink a lovely cup of tea, have lunch with my honey or watch a movie.  That kind of distraction is a very good strategy for creating a feeling of appreciation, which is where the good stuff can find me, every time.

 

 

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Feb2

reading list

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The YeThe Yellow Wallpaper, choreographed and directed by Paula Josa-Jones.     Photo:  Nick Novick

I just posted and linked my current list of favorite books.  I am in the process of redesigning my website, and have been prompted to add, subtract, rewrite along the way.  The list does not (but should) include everything ever written by Mary Oliver,Jane Hirshfieldand Rumi, or Michael Connolly mysteries or the book I just finished – The Memory of Running
by Ron McLarty.

Mostly these are books that have left an imprint on my work in one way or another.  Please check out Books I Love!

Feb1

more play

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I took this picture of Capprichio last September.  I lay in the grass and let him move around me.  I loved seeing him from this angle, down where he grazes, one eye on the farm, one eye on me.

Last night I spoke with the animal communicator Kate Reilly, and when she spoke to Capprichio, the first thing he said to her was, “It’s been a long time.”  He was talking about his long working life.  She said he sounded solemn – not depressed – but like an elder statesman.  She also confirmed that he is not comfortable.  Nothing catastrophic, just a number of things that add up to not feeling great.  I had been feeling that.

Capprichio will be twenty this year.  That is not OLD for a horse, but it is often when a horse who has worked for many years competing or performing will retire.  He has been “retired” for several years, but I still ride him lightly.  My antenna are always out – feeling for his legs, his back, how is he stepping? And mostly for his heart and mind – is this still fun?

Two weeks ago, after he recovered from his abscess, I felt something different.  Almost as if he did not want to put his feet down.  it was a new kind of tenderness.  I was listening.

Kate suggested letting him take February off and doing body work with him – energy work and TTouches.  She said, “Don’t do what you know.  Play.  See what happens.”  I have been writing about play in the blog and also in Breaking into Blossom.  And here is that theme again!  Kate telling me to play in an intuitive, improvisational way.  No map.  Just feeling and listening.  Letting myself be led – by my hands, by my heart, by him.  By love.

Jan31

play

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Photo:  Pam White

I have been thinking and reading about a lot about play for the past few weeks.   As I write about it, I am aware of how diminished my own sense of play can become if I m not actively seeking and feeding it.  How the day can become turgid and dim if I don’t look for a genuine rhythm of exertion and recuperation.

Here are some conscious playful recuperations:

  • bouncing:  I have a mini trampoline in my study, so standing up once every 30 minutes to bounce for 3 minutes is a great way to move fluids, feel the dance between gravity and levity and change my p.o.v.
  • getting down:  I also have up to three dogs in my study.  Getting up from the desk and getting down on the floor with the dogs is also refreshing.  Another change of level and p.o.v.
  • Getting out:  step outside with or without dogs.  Look around, breathe, stretch your arms up and take in the sky.
  • Listen:  Stand up, close your eye  and listen. What is the softest sound you hear?  What is the sweetest sound you hear?   I highly recommend Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice by Pauline Oliveros as a way of cultivating a listening practice.
  • random moving:  take some time during the day to lie down in an open space (does not have to be large) and let your body move.  Don’t exercise or stretch.  Just get quiet and see what impulses for movement might be there.  Let your body move in any way for 5 minutes.  No judgement, no interpretation, no  thinking.  Just feeling, moving.

How do you recuperate?