Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
(Fiddler on the Roof)
As 2018 draws to a close and different cultures celebrate traditions near and dear to their hearts, I take pause and reflect on this year of walking labyrinths daily.
When I began walking the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth late December 2017, I didn’t realize I would commit to walking each day. Sunrise. Sunset. Wind. Rain. Snow. Cold. Hot. Still. In happiness. Sadness. Anger. Calm. Just because. With intention. With others. By myself. Content with nature. Content with self. In Gratitude.
In April when I attended Veriditas Council at Stony Point in NY state, one of the members, Chris Farrow-Noble gave me a book she had written and published on her year-long journey of walking labyrinths. The synchronicity of intent! So, I began reading her daily entries on the same day I would walk a labyrinth. And, feelings often walked hand-in-hand.
Later in the year, I had re-affirmed that a way to success is to scaffold a new habit on an existing habit. I have a habit of writing a gratitude on a sticky note and putting it in a jar on the kitchen counter. Out in the open where I pass several times a day. So, I simply started jotting a date and a comment on sticky notes and stacked them beside the jar.
Now, I have started scaffolding my fitness log on top of these two positive habits.
Once I thought about the labyrinths, I have walked this year I added them up. An incredible 32 different labyrinths throughout the year. Most outside. Some canvas. Others cloth. A few wooden lap ones.
Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset Swiftly fly the years One season following another Laden with happiness and tears (Fiddler on the Roof)
As 2018 draws to a close and different cultures celebratetraditions near and dear to their hearts, I take pause and reflect on this year of walking labyrinths daily.
When I began walking the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth late December2017, I didn’t realize I would commit to walking each day. Sunrise. Sunset. Wind. Rain. Snow. Cold. Hot. Still. In happiness. Sadness. Anger. Calm. Just because. With intention. With others. By myself. Content with nature. Contentwith self. Extending positive energy into the Universe to be received where itcan be accepted. In Gratitude.
More recently, as the year closes, I simply enjoy the walk and listen to the sounds. Take in the sights. Become aware of the air around me– the fresh smell of the north wind, wood smoke from the chimney, acrid smell of the recent burn off of the labyrinth. Oh, and the southeast breeze wafting up the “odorless” sewer plant! The texture of the ground underfoot- squishy after a downpour, soft grass, crunchy ice, iron hard dirt, brittle burned stalks of grasses and forbs.
Changing of seasons
Many ways to walk a labyrinth
A pause before migration
Walking in winter
Coincidentally, I learned in April at the Veriditas Council at Stony Point in NY state, that one of the members, Chris Farrow-Noble, had also walked for a year and gave me a signed book she had written and published on her year-long journey of walking labyrinths. The synchronicity of intent! So, I began reading her daily entries on the same day I would walk a labyrinth. And, feelings often walked hand-in-hand.
With these hands….
Holding the circle
Lighten Up!
Later in the year, I had re-affirmed that a way to success is to scaffold a new habit on an existing habit. I have a habit of writing a gratitude on a sticky note and putting it in a jar on the kitchen counter. Out in the open where I pass several times a day. So, I simply started jotting a date and a comment on sticky notes and stacked them beside the jar.
Stack a new habit on top of an existing habit.
Ellen’s heart labyrinth
Creating an organic labyrinth at The Gathering
Now, I have started scaffolding my fitness log on top of
these two positive habits.
Once I thought about the labyrinths I have walked this year I added them up. An incredible 32 different labyrinths throughout the year. One about every eleven days. Most outside. Some canvas. Others cloth. A few wooden lap ones. And on rare occasions when I was flying and not at all in locations to use a cloth, lap or physical labyrinth, I used the palm technique of tracing a three-circuit labyrinth on my hands. It tickles!
Plymouth State University Campus
Riverwalk, Naperville, IL
Sharing labyrinths with Outdoor Writers Association of America members
North end Cedar Lake, Denville, NJ
My thoughts are not deep or profound. It’s just been a good journey.
Labyrinths Around the Twin Cities
Hopi Emerging Labyrinth, Plymouth, MN
One of many beautiful labyrinths in Twin Cities
Lisa Gidlow Moriarty
Around the Midwest
Sinsinawa, WI
Blessing of the labyrinths at Prairiewoods Spirituality Center
Edith and Lynda’s charming three circuit
Stunning labyrinth in Minnesota
Food walk at Peoples Unitarian Universalist Church
Worship outside of a church comes in many forms. For the service, several members shared their ways of being mindful and growing spiritually. These included listening to music, engaging in specific meditation times, and singing. My contribution was this short talk on how walking a labyrinth daily has been an important part of 2018. Since late December 2017, I have walked either the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth or when traveling found a labyrinth to walk, or used a small cloth lap labyrinth and as a last resort, used my palm to mindfully walk a labyrinth.
“Carry On” Lyrics from the American Indie Pop group, FUN.
“If you’re lost and alone
Or you’re sinking like a stone
Carry on.
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground
Carry on.
Carry on, carry on.”
The lyrics of this song often scroll through my mind as I walk a labyrinth daily. Walking a labyrinth is my meditation.
The song reminds us that none of us is perfect. We can chew on our faults, making them who we are. Or we can acknowledge the negatives things like wrong doings, surliness, inconsideration, not listening and then we can choose,
Yes, we have a choice, to acknowledge positives in our lives and work towards them. To make them part of who we really are.
We are Holy Spirits Bound in Human Bodies. Frailly Divine you might say.
Walking a labyrinth daily provides me with this time and space. For me to pause…Ground…Center in the moment…and Mindfully walk with a Grateful Heart.
I give thanks: to the day and the season regardless of the weather; the plants and animals; our home; Rich and our families; our bounty.
I ask for blessings on those in need, trauma, who are far away, with whom I have had disagreements and whose actions I disagree with.
I ask Divine Love that is within me to help me remember to open my heart and mind to grace and compassion.
Walking the labyrinth helps me catch and dispel the grumpiness that sometimes overwhelms me.
Speaking scientifically, by choosing to center in gratitude I change the brainwaves by allowing neurotransmitters to reinforce certain pathways. Positive pathways. I allow time for resolution of matters as I form habits of gratefulness and positivity.
Spiritually, this allows time and opens space to choose to walk mindfully; to invite in peacefulness that I work to carry through the day.
As I carry on, I remind myself that peace begins with me with the sound of my feet upon the ground.
From Abraham Maslow: “The most fortunate are those who have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy.”
From Linda Mikell, Veriditas Council member and skilled labyrinth facilitator, “People tell me time and again that the labyrinth has an aspect of awe and wonder about it.”
Sunnylands is the 200-acre estate outside Palm Springs of Walter and Lenore Annenberg. In 2001 they created a trust fund to “address serious issues facing the nation and the world community.” A 25,000 square foot, Mid-Century marvel, this peaceful oasis is set in the center of a 9-hole golf course. The property is now used for retreats as well as high-level summits. Former President Obama met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Other dignitaries include the Reagans, Prince Charles and Margaret Thatcher. The work of the Foundation is committed to sustainability, Global Cooperation, Democratic Institutions and Global Health and Food Security.
A hint of Thyme.
A visitor center was constructed at the entry and with it several breath-taking garden vignettes. As we toured the gardens, the tree-lined path around the great lawn opened to a clearing which contained a labyrinth. The 7-circuit path was wide and separated by low plantings.
The lyrics to Enya’s song, “Pilgrim” often roamed through my mind this winter as I walked the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth in cold and warmth, snow and rain, trudged through deepening snow and slid over the icy path all in a quest to reach Center. Center – a physical, emotional, spiritual goal.
In particular the line: “The road that leads to nowhere, the road that leads to you.”
Nelda, Teri, and Wahneta constructing the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth.
Midwest by West by Southwest, I walked several labyrinths and with the help of several stellar friends re-created the labyrinth in our front yard. With the help of wonderful friends, the five-circuit Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth replaced the seven-circuit Classical labyrinth. The magnolia that was dying came down and a small bur oak took its place. New circuits were measured and established. And, a lovely cross-quarter day dedication ceremony welcomed the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth. All summer, fall and early winter pilgrims walked in groups and individually helping to settle in the labyrinth in our front yard.
We traveled north into Minnesota, East to New York, West to Washington State, and Southwest to Arizona enjoying labyrinths and solitude along with communing with friends and family.
The 1080 Labyrinth blog picture gallery documents the travels, the travails, and the joys.
