Yeah so that’s probably an obvious title for anyone who knows me and my past-that for sure Sharla is not a nun nor a priest in any way form or fashion.  In fact until a couple years back I wouldn’t have considered anything about me spiritual or religious, in fact quiet the opposite, I was pretty solid against those things.

After finding that side of me, that spiritual connection I never knew could feel so amazing I was “hooked.”  I’ve been devoted to my spiritual growth and devotion from that point on.  I remember my teacher at the time suggesting to me that I create an altar at home.  I kinda fluffed off the idea at first but then got really excited about it, as I felt it would help me focus each day, just a little bit, on my connection with the Divine-kinda like a reminder of sorts.

Well, this idea sounds fine and dandy but when you have two kids, one of which is a toddler, it makes it interesting finding a place where you can put anything that’s remotely nice or breakable where he couldn’t get to it.  Outside of that, my husband at the time thought I was basically jumping off the deep end and didn’t want anything “woo-woo” to be out in the open where he or someone else could see it.  So, I decided it was best to have an altar that was hidden from everyone and that I would only have out in the open when no one was in the house-HOW LAME.  It’s not like I was cooking meth or something, we are talking about a sacred space that I wanted to create to just be apart of my daily routine of being connected to source, to remind me how much love, joy and peace is accessible to me every day (and for those around me as well)…sounds horrible right?!?!?!

The Box

I began gathering things from the house and some gifts from my teacher that I felt were sacred and beautiful to me.  Instead of keeping them out in the open like I had hoped, I chose to keep them in a wooden box my husband had built me.  When the kids and he would leave I would bring the items out, meditate, then put them back in the box to appease my husband.

When my husband’s issue with infidelity occurred, I was devastated. It was my consistent meditation and yoga practice that kept my head on straight, that gave me the strength to work through all that mess and choose to work it out with him at the time.  Those sacred items might have seemed insignificant to anyone but me, however all the sudden I felt forever grateful for them.  Those items hidden in that box were what kept me grounded, sane, realistic, and unconditionally loving to a man who had ripped my heart out (or so it felt at the time).

After our attempt to save our marriage, we decided to call it quits.  I find it utterly fascinating that my husband had so much anger towards me that when I left for a couple days, he we right to my box and broke almost all my sacred items.  He hated the part of me that felt so great.  He chose to look at my spiritual path as what tore us apart.  He resented who I had become and was becoming, sad really.  I found my beautiful Tibetan singing bowl that an awesome friend had given me, it was shattered.  That was a brass bowl that was hand crafted and doesn’t just break-he had to have taken a hammer to it or ran it over with the car or something.  For a brief moment I was angry but within minutes that anger turned into empathy.  Empathy for a man who I love dearly and care for very much, that I know his anger isn’t towards me but comes from a deep dark place of pain from his past and I just happen to be the scapegoat-well my things were really the scapegoat-but he blamed me and took it out on my things physically.

Finally My Sacred Space in THE OPEN

“In order to stay easily and happily creative, we need to stay spiritually centered.
This is easier to do if we allow ourselves centering rituals.
It is important that we devise these ourselves from the elements that feel holy and happy to us.”
Julia Cameron

Although the transition to being a single woman and single mom again has had it’s ups and downs, I must admit that the freedom to express myself without hesitation is liberating.

Being able to create a sacred altar, much like nuns or priests do, has been an important part in my life.  Bringing together new items found and gifts given to me, keeping them out in the open, being able to see them all day long is a beautiful thing.  My altar of sacred things is apart of my daily life and spiritual ritual that keeps me open, growing, spiritually evolving and just it’s presence in my house makes me feel I live in a retreat.

So even on days when I have challenges or roadblocks this altar is apart of my process in moving through those times.  Who would have thought that a couple candles, pictures, stones, and figurines could play such an important role in my life but they do.

What do you have in your life that keeps you grounded, that helps you go through life a little bit easier?

Wings of Peace

Spreading my wings.
Flying into the wind.
The wind carries me in the direction of soul, spirit and The Divine.

Drifting I am not.
Purposeful living I am.

Meaningless has no place.
Mission driven thru and thru.

On the wings of faith.
On the wings of love.
And on the wings of peace.

That yearning deep inside.
The fire that brews within intensifies with every passing day.
This I can’t ignore.

I must stand up.
I must shout out.
I must lead and follow those who are with me.

Steadfast supporting myself and others in the journey of healing and awakening to a higher purpose.
Pushing through the false self in a cloud of smoke, only to remember the beautiful essence of who we truly are.

On the wings of faith.
On the wings of love.
And on the wings of peace.

What can I do to serve?
What can I do to love?
What can you do?

Humanity is worth serving-lets spread spread our wings together and fly!

My kick ass friend, Maggie Deller of The Positive World, posed the question to me this morning on Facebook:  ”how are we born perfect and yet we are in progress-all growing?”

This question I’m sure might stir some of you up, considering many beliefs/faiths teach that we are imperfect beings on a mission to letting God work through us and take our sins away.  This is indeed one way to look at it.

I believe that God/Source/ The Universe birthed my spirit as a perfect one.  A spirit that is in complete harmony with others, that feels, gives and receives unconditional love.  My True Self is one that is never changing, and it’s essence is perfect, beautiful and complete BLISS.

HOWEVER, we are born in this world a spirit having a human experience…we are one of the creatures on earth that has been blessed to live with the 5 senses, language communication, and emotions.  Much of the human experience in our younger days is spent cultivating and growing an EGO (edging God out).  This ego can serve us at times and needs to be there, but honestly when you think about it the ego can be the biggest wall that each of us face.

The ego sees everything as being separate.  The ego judges and casts stones.  The ego contains fear and hate.  The ego attaches to things, places, people, etc.  The ego defines our experience with things that’s aren’t of our True nature-like cars, big houses, jobs, money and you name it the ego will attempt to define us through materialistic things and events.

We are the Sinner and Saint

So, being that we are born into a world of duality-spirits having a human experience, our journey on Mother Earth isn’t to learn lessons, which I have often said for years now…but it’s to REMEMBER, who we really are.  It’s to remember that part of ourself that’s never changing and always there for us-SPIRIT.

It’s that part of us that will never leave us, will always be filled with love and ready to share at a millisecond’s notice.  It’s that part of us that we’ve “covered” up for years with an often very unhealthy ego.

So in this incarnation there is an option of growing, spiritual evolving, or personal developing…all to shave away or tame that often out of control EGO and allow our TRUE SELF to emerge and shine bright.

We are the sinner and saint, we are the divine and diabolical, we are love and hate…we are all that is-just some qualities show more than others.

Even though different qualities show up in people in totally different ways, there is a divine light in each of us, there is no separation at all.  Just looking at a drop of water that came from the ocean-that drop is no more or less than what it came from-THE OCEAN.  So no matter what your faith or religious affiliation, I hope you know that you are that which is bigger than us, you are that which is that higher power, it’s running at your core-you are the “drop” of that which is of the higher power!

I acknowledge that Divine Light that’s in YOU just as it’s in ME…NAMASTE.

Bliss Everlasting

Honor myself as Divine.

Without the need to be filled with temporary pleasures.

But rather stay in service to others and in devotion to God.

To be in that pure love is nothing short of BLISS EVERLASTING.

Sharla Patrick

Where Have You Been?

When I wasn’t looking there you were.

When I wanted nothing to do with you, patiently you waited.

When I denied you, you stayed steadfast.

And then one night the soot of life faded away.

There standing bright, I felt you for the first time.

With a smile on your face and warm embrace.

Your open arms cradled me like a baby.

Rocking back and forth a familiarity hit me,

This place was home, it never went away

Only clouds of darkness hid the beauty and grace for so long.

But now I see, now I feel, now I know you were there all along,

I was just too asleep and blind to realize you.

Tonight has been an amazing one with my daughter.  She asked if we could watch a movie and snuggle-how could I say no to that.  I put down my work, turned the movie on and cuddled under many blankets on the couch.

Skylar picked out the movie, she’d actually watched it before apparently and she said it was great.  She kept talking about how this robot was the sweetest robot ever and the girl didn’t like him, even though the robot did everything for the girl.  I was fascinated at her liking to a movie about a robot (this wasn’t a cartoon mind you).

We shared many laughs tonight and a cry or two during this movie…precious moments I absolutely am thankful for…but in watching I was moved to write something that seem to just pour out of me.

This was inspired by Andrew in the movie, “Bicentennial Man” (played by the amazing actor-Robin Williams).

Heaven on Earth

There comes a moment in time,
or maybe there is no time at all,
or is it time just fades away if only for a brief moment.

When two become one,
no more boundaries that separate,
there are no walls, no judgments, and no ill will.

Only the pure ecstatic joy of heaven in the now.
Words cannot explain the bliss that fills from the inside out.
Wishing it would last forever,
time passes and shortly there after we are left breathless,
bewildered of the short journey,
that gives us if only a taste of what all eternity is like.

Sharla Patrick  Oct 2010

]]> http://sharlapatrick.com/heaven-earth/feed/ 4 http://sharlapatrick.com/heart-yerns-freedom/ http://sharlapatrick.com/heart-yerns-freedom/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:39:44 +0000 Sharla http://sharlapatrick.com/?p=829

Brought to Tears

As I write this I have tears in my eyes after watching a simple short video, not even 4 minutes long of an old high school acquaintance climb this amazing, stunning even, snow covered mountain with her husband.  Their faces were filled with pure joy as they reached the peak and could see the entire world it seemed from up that far.

As I watched this video I took myself there, to talk in their shoes, to feel the open air on my face, to breathe the crisp air into my lungs and bask in the beauty of mother earth all around me.  I felt free, I felt wonderful, I felt refreshed, rejuvenated and nourished by nature moving through me.

Not even being there in “real” life I was able to mentally take myself to that place in that exact moment and feel nothing but FREEDOM.

So often I feel trapped, that the world around me can close in hard and fast with no where to turn, when really that’s so not the truth but only a deception of life that I have total control over.

Perceptions of Life

It’s so much easier to walk around with an entitlement attitude, that the world around us, that people around us-owe us something.  That it’s not our job to make ourselves happy or find freedom…

It takes energy, will power, determination and a conscious mind to change that perception of entitlement to a mindset of personal responsibility.

For me my soul is yearning right now to feel freedom, space, love and peace in all that surrounds me…even when there is turmoil my knee jerk reaction is to defend, to perceive that someone or something should act a certain way-when really I have no control over anyone but myself and my own thoughts.  I have to take responsibility for my own life in finding the eternal freedom, because it’s already there…it’s really just a process of uncovering the “muck” of life that’s clouded what the soul contains from birth.

“The amount of happiness that you have depends on the
amount of freedom you have in your heart.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Going Within and Without

Freedom to some is living with lots of money, big houses, fancy cars…to me freedom is that place I find every now and again within me when I feel connected to something that’s so much bigger than me-to Source.

That connection is always there, all the time…for me it’s just a matter of fine tuning my life, my soul, my mind to feel that connection more and more.

I can go into my eternal seat of wisdom, into my heart and feel the purse essence of love and joy, total freedom-so I know it’s there.  I find that the more simply I live and clear my life of materialistic things, I go “without” I actually have more of the feeling I crave so much.

I love going within to find more than I ever could on the outside.

We Have Everything We Need to Fulfill Our Hearts Desires

As I close out this post for today, I have to remind myself that even in my darkest hours, in trials and tribulations that I may face that I have EVERYTHING I EVER NEED to BE WHOLE, to live a FULL and PROSPORUS LIFE.  That boiling within me is a strong, vibrant, beautiful woman who can accomplish everything and nothing and I’m still a Divine Child of the Universe without question.

That this journey I’m on is nothing more than a huge university and my job is to learn what I can, while I can in this carnation and enjoy every moment of it.  That FREEDOM isn’t free there is a price to “pay” of taking full responsibility not blaming others outside of me for taking me away from  freedom.

NAMASTE

(The Divine Light in Me, Sees and Honors the Divine Light in You)

Does a tree try to grow?

Does a fish try to swim?

Does the sun try to shine?

Nature is such a wonderful example of the concept, do less and accomplish more, do nothing and accomplish everything.

It’s in nature that these things just happen and it’s human nature to make our dreams manifest with the greatest of east and with little effort.

When we are in harmony with nature we are in the awareness of our True Self and can make use of the Law of Least effort.

When our hearts operate from a place of authentic love we are in the flow and that energy will only multiply and accumulate.

Acceptance is an essential aspect of the law of least effort that allows us to use our energy in a positive way; on the other hand those who choose to defend, resist and fight life are choosing to create conflict, chaos and is a total waste of energy.

Success and fulfillment come from inside, the highest responsibility is fulfilled not by doing a huge amount of work but by doing the work of spirit in an attitude of joy and creativity.

DO LESS ACCOMPLISH MORE, DO NOTHING AND ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING

Is this humanly possible???

People often as me:
What’s my attraction to the practice of Yoga so much?  What draws me to Yoga?  What does Yoga do for me-and what would it do for them if they practiced Yoga?

In an often turbulent world that I have lived in most my life, looking back I now realize I stay in my head (too thinky) all the time.

Yoga is an ancient word that literally means to Yoke or the Union (of the mind, body & soul).  So often, our culture has informed us the Yoga is just a great physical work out, and although it is, Yoga is much more than that.

My Yoga practice has brought a softness to me, it has opened my heart to be more flexible and not such a know it all, to have TRUE unconditional LOVE for EVERYONE, it’s created a flow of energy in my every day life that allows me to be a better person.  Yoga has allowed me to really become conscious of my own body, inside and out…my Yoga practice allows me to commune with nature, Spirit, my body, and keeps me out of my “thinky” brain so much and just allows me to enjoy the Present Moment.  Yoga has given me a new appreciation for life, Mother Earth and all Humanity…it’s inspired me to really find a way to give back to the world without wanting anything in return.

The practice of  Yoga for me has been so unique in that no one who is conscious has ever ridiculed, judged, or criticized my practice…because my path in Yoga is a journey unique to me and me alone.  As I deepen my practice I realize that I’m closer to my creator, I am fully aware of my body more and more because I take time to listen each day, and that I have a “non-egoic self confidence” now that resides in me all the time.

My Yoga Practice has been a life changing journey that I’m forever grateful for and I HAVE FOUND that’s it’s totally possible to quiet the mind while moving the body…it’s a practice that has to be cultivated but a profoundly powerful one when you have.  Being able to quiet my mind has lead to a much more creative, loving, flexible, mature outlook on life with nothing but unlimited potential and unbounded awareness and a heart that wont stop loving anyone in my path!

“It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations,
Judgments and prejudices.  Beginner’s mind is just present to
Explore and observe and see “things as-it-is.”  I think of beginners
Mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity
And wonder and amazement.  “I wonder what this is?  I wonder what that is?
I wonder what this means?”
Hartman’s explanation of the Beginners Mind/Soshin