speak from your heart

A tender moment, nursing Diin.

When babies are having their milk, they usually want to work their hands with something, whether it's twiddling (which drives me nuts, and I redirect), pulling at a necklace, grabbing clothes, or, in my case, play with mommy's moles. I have a lot of raised moles, and all the kids, especially the boys, have been pretty interested in them.  'Mole' was Phoenix's first real intentional word.  Pushing on them like a button, running them over and over, trying to pull them off... drives me a little nuts too sometimes.

Sometimes though Diin starts pinching me, grabbing me, and sometimes kinda grabbing my throat, which can make me feel a little uncomfortable.  Tonight though, as soon as he did it, something in me relaxed, and the idea came that he was trying to tell me something. I relaxed and felt an energy exchange between us, felt my throat relax, my throat chakra open, and then he put his hand on my heart chakra. Then he did it again, grabbed my throat then touched the heart.

And the message came to me, use your voice to speak truth, speak from your heart.

wise words of Pema

Wise and timely, as always. A reminder to be open.
Moving out and about sometimes in DC, I am struck by how unfriendly and unhappy some people are, but I remind myself not to take it personally, and I keep myself open to them, to just touch someone's heart, a stranger, by acting toward them in a simple way from my heart, something seemingly small like a smile or a kind word, or even a simple hello. Sometimes you see or feel something moving in that person.

from Weekly Heart Advice from Pema Chodron for today:

THE BEGINNING OF GROWING UP

Opening to the world begins to benefit ourselves and others simultaneously. The more we relate with others, the more quickly we discover where we’re blocked. Seeing this is helpful, but it’s also painful. Sometimes we use it as ammunition against ourselves: we aren’t kind, we aren’t honest, we aren’t brave, and we might as well give up right now. But when we apply the instruction to be soft and nonjudgmental to whatever we see at this very moment, the embarrassing reflection in the mirror becomes our friend. We soften further and lighten up more, because we know it’s the only way we can continue to work with others and be of any benefit in the world. This is the beginning of growing up.