Urgency

I have a post-it at my desk that says "Don't let anyone rush me." I've been letting people do this for years, to the point where I was rushing myself. Rushing to meet deadlines, to meet expectations, to be somewhere else. 

I felt rushed folding laundry the other day. I had no deadline, it was just an old habit. "There's no need to rush," I reminded myself. Once I slowed down and the pressure eased, the whole process of folding laundry became a pleasure. 

Urgency is an energy leak. A thief that robs me of joy.

When I was younger I never wanted to be the old lady who counts her coins carefully at the checkout and holds up the line. I was young and had places to be. Now I am that old lady. It helps to be older. I don't care as much about what other people think. When I take my time to count the change or package my groceries, I'm not holding up the line, I'm preserving my energy, my boundaries and my peace.

Running Water and Dark Energies

This is a tool that is often overlooked. 

Many dark energies can not pass over running water. 

I felt this for myself one day when at a meeting at a friend's house. The energy in the meeting was so dark and oppressive that I left early. The darkness held until I got out to the sidewalk. Then it just vanished. Poof. Instantly. It stopped me in my tracks. Was it the distance from the house? I stepped back into the yard with one foot to see what would happen. There it was. Right there. Nasty stuff. I stepped back closer to the street and it lifted. 

In the weeks ahead, I did some research. Turns out that others have noticed this too. Running water is often a strong deterrent to negative energies. It has to be running though. 

The next time I was in the area, I stopped by to see if running water was a factor. Sure enough the water main for the street ran right under the sidewalk in the exact spot where I noticed the darkness lift. 

That wasn't the only time that happened. 

While shopping with a friend, the energy in the mall turned suddenly dark. Big dark. Instant headache and fatigue. Both of us. So we left. On the walk home, suddenly the dark energy vanished. I asked my friend if she felt the same thing. Yes. Was this a water pipe under the sidewalk? I told her what I'd discovered before. We backtracked to the place where the energy lifted. Sure enough we had just stepped over an underground water line.

Not Soup

We may eat soup for lunch but we are not soup. 

We may have a moment of anger but we are not anger. 

We use the soup in our physical makeup and we use the anger in our emotional and mental landscapes but we are not them. If we hold anger, we are stuffing our energy with something that is more free-moving than that. 

The soup moves through us. And if we let it, the anger can move through us too - blowing over like a summer squall.

Butter Tarts

Mom's recipe. Bring a napkin. 

3-4 tbsp. butter 
1 c. packed brown sugar (brown not yellow) 

1 egg 

1/4 tsp. salt 

A handful of raisins 1/4 to 1/3 c. 

A handful of chopped walnuts 1/4 to 1/3 c. Don't chop too fine, you want a bit of crunch. 

1 tsp. vanilla 

12 tart shells 

Cream together the butter and sugar. They just need to be combined, not beaten. Add egg, salt and vanilla and mix well. Fold in walnuts and raisins. Spoon into the prepared tart shells. 

Bake 450° F on a low rack for 8 minutes. The pastry should be cooked, the tarts browned on top and the filling a bit runny.