Radiant Diversity

December 25, 2019Leave a comment

Radiant Diversity with Shelley Ostroff

Life may depend on YOU befriending nonhuman perspectives. Yes. Radiant diversity, nourishing empathy, co-creating the conditions for diversity to flourish… what does this all mean? Spend an hour with Shelley Ostroff, dedicated to exploring and remembering the essential nature of our Life-enhancing diversity and the essential role that you play.

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Shelley Ostroff (PhD) is an author, activist, artist, leadership consultant, and social entrepreneur focused on initiating and supporting whole-system healing processes on a global level. She is the founder of togetherincreation.org and 7days-of-rest.org, platforms and initiatives dedicated to the healing and replenishment of the planet and all its inhabitants.

An Individual Moment

September 10, 2015Leave a comment

Yesterday was a Country Gospel kind of day. Maybe I needed a closer walk with Jesus? Now, after a morning filled with Simon and Garfunkel, I’ve turned to my Ed Sheeran playlist. Tonight will be some jazz and maybe a glass of wine. Tomorrow will be something different. Maybe praise music, Meghan Trainor, or uplifting chants? Maybe my “Turn It Up Loud and Sing” playlist? Top 40, or Oldies? Will it be Peruvian flute, dance music, classical, Indigenous Rhythms, or Tom Kenyon’s songs of Magdalen?

Depends on my mood. It likely may be silence.

Life is like that. Music, art, food, cultures, traditions, wisdom… there’s so much rich beauty to be discovered when we move out of our homogenized silos and venture out to explore the vast world of our magnificent inter-being. Janet Autherine wrote, “If we all counted our blessings and then shared them with our neighbors, near and far, all our lives would be richer.” Let us move into the richness with joy and celebration. Let us wander out beyond our safe boundaries and beliefs to gather in the space between us. Let us risk and become vulnerable enough to really get it. And dare we not just “share” with one another, but really commune in the fullness of our differences.

Can we sit in our moments of anxious-discomfort long enough to really hear the answer to “what really matters?” Can we temper the impulse to judge or criticize with enough tenacity to clearly understand? Can we hold the form of unity with enough resilience to see the beauty in our neighbor’s prayer or a stranger’s God? Can we remove the illusory walls that separate and open the gates of enlightened truth with the strength to receive the universal blessings? I want to believe so. I’m all in – knowing it isn’t always easy, but imperative and clearly, perceptively ordained.

This is our time. Let us come together and sample the varied spices of life. Let us hear the beautiful symphonic notes, tones and rhythms. Let us see the full spectrum of colors, shapes, patterns and textures. Let us smell the fragrance of the full bouquet as we admire each individual bloom. And may we get lost in the oneness of it all, all the while knowing exactly where we are. May we wake to life and play together in the flow of infinity expressing itself as us. May we surrender to our inter-being and get drunk with possibility and potential. And in the end, we’ll remember that we are the rich blessing of all that is, simply having an individual moment.

Yesterday was a Country Gospel kind of day…

A World of Love,

Julie

We are enjoying beautiful daily meditations, shared intention, heart attunements, resonant community, and interfaith prayers and texts over at My DAILY DOSE of SOUL CARE. All are welcome. Come join us and turn your attention to a daily practice that supports you and brings you into alignment with your highest purpose.

Love Thy Neighbor

June 12, 2015Leave a comment

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” ~ Judaism

“A new commandment I give to you. That you love one another; even as I have loved you… By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
~ Christianity

“A man obtains a proper rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself.” ~ Hinduism

“Full of love for all things in the world, practicing virtue in order to benefit others, this man alone is happy.” ~ Buddhism

“Seek to be in harmony with all your neighbors, live in amity with your brethren.”
~ Confucianism

“No one is a believer until he loves for his neighbor, and for his brother, what he loves for himself.” ~ Islam

My Colorful Greek Garbanzo Bean Prayer

April 18, 2015Leave a comment

I love to make up my own recipes. I was in the mood for a Greek salad with “substance.” That called for my famous Greek garbanzo bean concoction: a colorful celebration of nature’s most delicious flavors beautifully combined in a visual pallet that is sure to please the other pallet. I opened my new jar of Calamata olives and popped one into my mouth. Ugh, they were not pitted! How was I going to make my Greek salad without Calamata olives? I was not! More importantly, how was I going to pit them? Cutting them off the pit was not efficient. And then I noticed: when I smashed them, they naturally separated from the pit. Then I could squeeze the pit out one end. It was messy, but appeared to be the solution. As I stood smashing and squeezing, the juice ran freely through my fingers and onto my cutting board. The smell was heavenly Greek. When I was done, I chopped them so no one would ever know I smashed them.

Vibrant hues filled my glass bowl as I added bright yellow peperoncini, regal red peppers, stately green cucumbers, those deep purple olives, and finely chopped red onions to my pallid garbanzo beans. Next, the aromatic mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, basil, sea salt, and my favorite pepper blend. Oops, I almost forgot the Feta Cheese. Yum… it was calling my name! I stirred it all together with love and lifted my spoon to my lips. Disappointment! It tasted like nothing special. In fact, I would say it didn’t taste like much of anything at all. The secret ingredient of many good things is time. And, like fine wine, my gregarious Greek medley deserved a moment to merge, mingle and unite in melodious glory; time to transform – imbued with delightful new succulent flavors.

Ah, yes… a little time proved to be the answer! It was delicious. As I looked at the beautiful salad I wondered if there was a way to imbue peace, harmony and unity in a world of many colors, races, religions, beliefs, and politics. Stirred with LOVE, maybe time will tell. That is my colorful Greek garbanzo bean prayer.