You just have to dig a little deeper to find it sometimes! 

I have some amazing, brilliant, enlightened friends on Facebook and once in awhile, they share something which, I believe, needs even wider exposure than simply sharing it myself on Facebook.   Today is one of those days!  My friend, Megan, shared an article about a teacher in a small town in Illinois which really made me sit up and say “Oh, yeah!”  and then I realized that I needed to share it here as well.

http://wildhunt.org/2013/12/small-town-teacher-invites-wiccan-guest-speaker-into-classroom.html

As I really want people to read it and share for themselves, I’m not going to go into a lot of detail except to say that I am thrilled to see that the battle against ignorance comes in unexpected ways and from unexpected directions, and for the sake of our children and for our children’s children’s children, this is a most amazing thing!

Looking back at what I just wrote, I think “battle” is probably the wrong word, though there are definitely times, like the one mentioned in the article, where people need to band together, like a fighting force, but using words and community as their swords rather than anger, hate and violence. 

When you meet violence with violence, there is really only one outcome.  People will die.  People will be maimed.  Lives will be irrevocably changed, and seldom for the better.  And regardless of who “wins”, the pattern will continue, because the loser will continue to be angry and fearful and ignorant, and will eventually rise up to try to take back what they believe they lost. 

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s something weird about “fighting” something.  There’s such a negative connotation to that word, and if the word brings up negative images, wouldn’t the energy be the same?

At the risk of repeating what so many others have said, here’s my take:
Instead of fighting cancer, why not allow health?
Instead of fighting racism, why not promote acceptance?
Instead of hating our politicians, why not love and appreciate the good people they are, deep down inside?
For those who work for someone else, instead of cursing your job, find the things you love about it and embrace them wholeheartedly.  (I did this and was later told that I’d changed in a good way, though the reason wasn’t apparent, nor should it have been! :))

In short, I’ve gotten into the habit of replacing “fight” with “allow”, “hate” with “love”, and have learned that the time to follow my dream and ignore my fears is right now!

Fear is simply ignorance of our potential.  When we are unable to see what lies ahead, we can react in many ways.  We can fear what lies ahead, slow our steps and even stop, remaining where we are indefinitely so we don’t have to face the unknown.  Or we can embrace the potential in not knowing what is ahead of us, trusting that we have, indeed, learned to make lemonade out of lemons if that’s what we’re given, but knowing that, in truth, most of the time, we get something more wonderful than our feeble human minds can imagine!

My gratitudes today are:
1. I am grateful that I can trust in myself, my guides and the Universe and allow myself to follow the dream.
2. I am grateful for the incredible, electric energy which surrounds my life and offers unbelievable potential.
3. I am grateful for the loving, positive, supportive people who are in my life now, and are joining it in a steady stream.
4. I am grateful for words that come to my fingers, even before my brain even registers them there.
5. I am grateful for quiet days with the wind howling outside my window which encourage me to let the muse run free and wild.

Love and light.