Category: Positivity

Joy – Guest Blog

On By ellenbessoIn change, detachment from outcome, Grief, PositivityLeave a comment

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun” – amazing grace 

I am here

I am here

I’m still here

Each moment is what we have 

How to detach to remain present

The magic is there

In you

Any way you find the magic 

Magic joy and peace 

Is our birthright  

You can go to the edge of the world

You can look down at all the green

the central question now

How to find the peace joy magic in this chaos

Joy is fire

Joy is revolution

Joy is resistance 

We can hold both

One in each hand

Or,

Some of each in both hands

Grief/joy

Pain/peace

Magic

It certainly seems to me that the bad and good are greatly magnified

Now

We sit in the margins 

Balance

Stillness 

Energy

Embracing duality is a/the necessary skill

 tightrope 

No one and nothing is all good or bad

We are here 

C Bronwen Besso-Smith 2025

Who’s in Charge? Lessons from the Universe

On By ellenbessoIn change, detachment from outcome, lifestyle change, Positivity2 Comments

Within the mayhem of our planet my own personal micro chaos has been taking place.

The Universe has conspired to teach me many lessons lately. From a toxic neighbour to two failed real estate deals…it has come home to me in a stronger way that I am not the one running the show.

For two years I have lived next door to a demanding neighbour. Our doors are set in a 90 degree corner from each other. Being a fair and accommodating person, I had not realized how stressful it was living in such close proximity to this woman until, due to a strata issue, my neighbour verbally attacked me.

Although my place has a lovely view, the apartment itself has never been right for me. I had not thought previously of moving but the disturbing “event” with my neighbour propelled me into taking a look at quite a different unit in another part of our complex, one that has more privacy and is more like a small cottage.

My friend Joe became my agent. We rushed to prepare both offer and selling contracts and to get my place ready to go on the market. We were after a quick purchase and rapid sale so no short term mortgage would be needed. “We’re selling the view”, Joe said. (Unfortunately the view of the Gibsons harbour and North Shore mountains was obscured by wildfire smoke that week, but we would make do, using the pics from two years ago when I purchased the property)

Pictures of the inside of my place were taken and our offer made, but the very morning my place was to be listed, the other unit was taken off market. We did not find out why, until later, when we were told that the seller had lost the big old house she wanted farther up the Sunshine Coast.

Now that deal had gone south and she was bidding on the big house again, with her apartment here going back on market.

“Everything’s ready, let’s go for it”, said Joe. But this time he repeatedly cautioned me to keep emotions out of it.

You can probably guess what happened next…There were multiple offers on the big house, and my “seller” lost out on it yet again. I felt for the woman.

“We are being asked to loosen out grip on plans, timelines and outcomes. The Universe is shifting pieces behind the scenes…Stay open, receptive and willing to step into alignment when the door opens.” April Ripley wrote on her facebook page.

I think that should be my new motto, not an easy challenge.

My Lessons: Detachment both with the neighbour and to the outcome of buying the new place. Strong boundaries with the neighbour…I’ve been too fair and too nice for too long.

The whole thing was too rushed, but there were reasons for this exercise relating to letting go of outcome. Each time we moved farther ahead in terms of readiness to move.

Hopefully it will happen next year. Now I wait…and I purge my home!

Melaque Magic Update

On By ellenbessoIn change, Grief, lifestyle change, Positivity, spirituality, The Earth, travel, Widows3 Comments

“This is what you came here for, to change your life”. The Grandmothers

On the plane to Mexico on January 9th a strange thought crossed my mind: “I’m going home”. “What, I just left home”, I said to myself. I did not know what was coming but the magic began that very evening on the beach.

While most friends seemed to appreciate my profound experience of the first evening, when Don subtly emerged through the beach portal in West Melaque, I felt something was missing.

The spiritual experience of that evening set the tone for the next two months. The healing energy of the sand and water, listening to and performing music, meeting Mexican families and making new friendships all came together to catalyze my internal change.

My days settled into a comfortable routine: My morning ritual was a walk on the Malecon boardwalk followed by coffee under a beach umbrella, served to me by the lovely Tito, owner, along with his wife, of Tito’s Place, where everything began the night of my arrival. The sound of the waves hitting the shore and the fascinating soaring birds transported me.

Reviewing my journal notes from spring 2024, I noticed my guides had told me that my first solo Mexican trip that winter “was the start of a massive change”. The latest trip, I now realize, was a transcendent experience.

“A transcendent experience, however you arrive at it, is like a portal that opens, inviting you to walk through”, Anita Moorjani, known for her powerful near death experience, writes. Once opened, it never closes, Moorjani goes on to say, so the clarity of wisdom never disappears.

As my time in Melaque drew to an end it felt like time to return home, although I was not fully ready to leave this special place, the backdrop for transformation, where I discovered a sense of peace within.

Never have I experienced such a long and laborious re-entry from travels, not even after my first trip to India, where I have lived many past lives. This was a different experience, not so much an awareness of having lived in Melaque in the past as it was simply being caught up in the special energetic flow of the area.

During Don’s and my visit to the town in 2001 we made two brief visits to Tito’s for margaritas. Tito remembered Don from that time when he saw his picture. Because of that long ago time in Melaque I felt compelled to return this year and it proved to be an experience of deep healing. The peace I found there allowed me to dive deep into myself.

My open mic singing, (somehow encouraged by Don during the portal experience), was an important part of my spiritual shift in Mexico, and it took starting to sing open mic at the Legion here in Gibsons to finally bring me full circle, back to my permanent home.

A curious thing happened during my first Legion visit. Since I was nervous, I decided to pretend I was in Melaque, walking into the Legion, ordering a mug of Mexican draft beer and settling myself in the song circle.

My song choices were pieces I had sung in Mexico, “The Rose” and “They Call the Wind Maria”. I gave it my all, and received positive feedback from the other musicians. It was almost like I transferred my experience of singing in Mexico and the confidence and the energy of it to this new venue.

This week we sang The Rose at my ukelele group, and although not soloing, I had a similar experience…as if I was somehow channelling the energy of Melaque into and through the song.

Don came to the Melaque beach to help me move forward…to open more to life, I sense. He was very much with me in that beach community the entire two months I was there. His encouragement to take my music seriously helps me with my overall change.

Yet another level of our physical separation occurred, catalyzed by the portal experience. Our energetic soul connection will never be severed after many lifetimes together.

Melaque was not a “time out of time” experience, it was my life for two very real months. It cannot be reproduced…it can, however be built upon, a new starting out point for me.

Singing Breakthrough

On By ellenbessoIn Positivity, retirement2 Comments

Part of the magic of my first night on the beach at Tito’s was that it propelled me into singing open mic here in Melaque. 

 Don has always loved my singing and encouraged me to do it. I have a strong intuition that part of the spiritual experience on the beach that first night involved music… that Don was nudging me. 

It was no accident that someone told me about the next day’s open mic right there at Tito’s. I thought, “Why not!”. 

 I wanted to sing my current favorite song, The Rose, written by Amanda McBroom and performed by Bette Midler in the movie of that name. “That song would not work well with the band”, a kind singer told me. However her husband agreed to accompany me on guitar.

 I was told to arrive at 12:15 to sign up. Arriving at noon, I was way down on the list but determined to sing.

A neighbour from Gibsons came to support me, bringing several of her hotel friends with her. They cheered me as I went on stage, and she made a video of me singing. There was a lot of noise in the room, but I could still be heard, both live and on the video. 

 Highly motivated, I went to the next live mic three days later on Tuesday evening, also at Tito’s, by Jacks invitation. There, I learned that Jack and his wife sponsor both the Saturday and Tuesday events, donating all proceeds to help the most poverty-stricken Mexican families. 

Over 10 days, I performed five times at live mic, including one karaoke performance with an amazing young woman from the Canadian Navy. I met her right before she left town, and we sang “I’ll Fly Away” together, with me singing harmony at my request… Such fun! 

After that, I took a break for 10 days, realizing intuitively that the singing marathon, although incredible, had been intense and took lots of energy.

I began again fresh on a Tuesday night, singing at the smaller Jack and Friends venue. The time off helped me, and I felt I had hit my stride, singing two solos and Why Me Lord with Jack, a song I’d wanted to sing for a long time with a male singer, as I lean toward music with broad spiritual contexts.

 Jack has been amazingly helpful, encouraging and mentoring me; I would go so far as to say. Last Wednesday at karaoke, he told me I did a good job of Dolly Parton’s Wildflowers; however, I needed to practice lots to teach myself to stay within the confines of the karaoke music. (Karaoke is harder than singing open mic with Jack and Friends; the music does not slow down or speed up to follow my tempo; I must follow it!). 

I’ve begun my karaoke “homework”; however I’m looking at it as a long-term task as I am on vacation after all… And my goal here on the beach with its energy portal is healing myself spiritually. 

When I returned to Canada, I look forward to hitting the ground running, singing at least twice weekly, participating in every opportunity that appeals to me.

Don Softly Returns

On By ellenbessoIn Grief, Positivity8 Comments

For many months, I sensed that this trip to Melaque, Mexico, would be life-changing in some unknown way, but I did not anticipate the unusual events that began on my arrival.

 The change began immediately, during my first dinner on the beach an hour or two after booking into Hotel Bahia Melaque. My first evening turned out to be a magical one on the beach at Tito’s.

After Tito’s daughter served me a delicious meal of shrimp, guacamole and tacos, I shared some of my story with her, saying my husband and I had visited Melaque in 2001.

 “What was your husband’s name,” she asked. I told her, and she went off back to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with another waiter, a lovely young man. “Our father remembers him”, they both said.

 I showed them a 20-year-old picture of Don and I, taken on a cruise down Indian Arm in the North Vancouver area, roughly about the time we came to Melaque. The next thing I knew, Tito himself showed up. “I remember him,” he said, looking at the picture, then he returned to his restaurant duties.

I was very touched and began to cry. Titos daughter, a warm mother of four, rubbed my back. But this experience was more than Tito remembering Don… Somehow, events and energies had converged that evening, and I felt Don’s presence there with me.

 As I ate my meal, a beautiful little girl, Chihuahua, the big-eared breed, appeared beside me, dressed in a pink coat. She sat quietly for a long time, finally going up on her back legs to ask for food. She turned down a taco, but she ate it when I added fat shrimp. I spoke to her, telling her I didn’t think shrimp was good for her, so did not give her anymore. At some point, she quietly faded away.

 I believed what the wonderful Mexican folks had told me, but I was very curious about why they asked me my husband’s name. The next day, I asked Titos daughter. “My grandmother says I’m a witch” she replied. “Oh, you’re psychic”, I said. Now, it made more sense to me.

That first Friday night, I also made a quick decision to sign up for the open mic the next day when I heard about it. I had been prevaricating about singing at the Gibsons Legion open mic for many months, and I thought it was time to just do it…To honour myself by taking my singing seriously.

In retrospect, I sense that Don planted the suggestion; he loved my singing and always supported me in it.

Something was set in motion that night, a significant step towards the emergence of my new life. My challenge now is to remain with spirit so as not to self-sabotage myself with doubts and sadness.

Post Script: In conversation with one of my hotel owners, I learned that Tito remembers many people who have come to his place. He also told me he has heard stories that this area is the place where people can reconnect with their loved ones in spirit.

When I spoke to Tito later, he said he was aware that people are able to get in touch with their deceased loved ones here at the beach near his restaurant”.

Both Tito and the hotel manager were unfamiliar with the term portal, so I explained it to them as a doorway to and from heaven. Perhaps this would help them understand more about their unique part of Mexico.

Opening to Aging

On By ellenbessoIn aging, Positivity, retirement, spiritual awakening, Uncategorized2 Comments

Our dear nomad friends in    Dharamshala

Turning 70 was an aha moment for me. It took a while and lots of processing before the idea that I was becoming an older women began to sink in. Having dear friends and family share my actual birthday day, to witness the event, helped.

Having the very brief TIA, (mini stroke), six weeks later, after the traumatic experiences in Toronto the day of the Raptor’s parade, was a further step in my understanding. The TIA was a surprising and disconcerting event. I couldn’t believe it was happening to me, but it was an important part in my growing understanding that I am different than I was before, although still me. I really do have an eventual expiry date.

I’m on the way to recognizing – and just beginning to accept – that I am becoming old. The sense that people a decade older than me are old but I’m not no longer works for me. Because 70 is beyond oldish, my favourite descriptor for myself over the past few years. It is the beginning of old.

And that’s okay. Embracing rather than running away from the process of aging that ultimately leads to death is now my goal.

Beginning to open to this idea rather than denying it has led to many new possibilities in my life recently. It seems to have opened the way for my creative juices to flow. New volunteer work with our local Community Services is on the horizon. The new, progressive policy of the organization to match each volunteer and their skills and experience with the best job.

Most of us have a vast array of experience and skills to offer. This concept is called  knowledge philanthropy. After I opened myself to newness, including the newness of aging idea, my guides instructed me, in quite a specific way, to offer a workshop called Age With Grace for small groups of women.

I am currently working on that. It will take a while as I push through my thoughts and feelings around aging and do my research. The late Kathleen Dowling Singh wrote a Buddhist based book I have found helpful, although I am not a Buddhist myself, called The Grace in Aging. It is a very real book, pulling no punches.

Starting to attend the Threshold Choir, a group of women learning to sing beautiful songs at the bedside of the sick and dying, is another piece of my process. Serious work, quite profound, yet also joyful. For how can I deal with my own aging and ultimate death when I haven’t completed the process of letting go of certain friends and loved ones?

Opening to my aging and dying, although I am still healthy, will continue for the rest of my life. It will to open me to many things and hopefully to a richer life – both out in the world and my internal one.

Love & Light

Ellen

Copyright 2019 Ellen Besso

Ellen Besso is a Life Coach, Counsellor & an energy worker. She is the author of An Indian Sojourn: One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, and Surviving Eldercare: Where their needs end & yours begin, both available through Amazon.

 

My Divine Love Prayer Group Welcomes Me Back

On By ellenbessoIn meditation, Positivity, prayer, spirituality, Spirituality in Action, Uncategorized4 Comments

“We believe that through the inflowing of God’s Divine Love, the soul is transformed.” 

Divine Love Energy

Since September, with the exception of a weekend prayer party, I have been unable to attend my Divine Love prayer group, five minutes from my home, as my new Inspirito Choir also meets on Monday evenings. The heart felt music, led by a gifted, unusual woman, has enriched and fulfilled me over the past months, but is not a replacement for the deep peace and angelic beings surrounding us during our prayer time, an hour during which Al channels messages from the Celestial Realms.

My presence last Monday evening was fortuitous, but then there are no accidents. I was lovingly welcomed by the nine people present, and told by Al that my presence there added to the positive conditions in the room.

It was a special evening, as Augustine, one of Al’s main guides, offered each of us personal messages. My message affirmed that my eclectic approach to spiritual work, one that differs from the folks who have been following the Divine Love path for many years, is my personal route to God/Goddess. “Although your concepts of the soul may differ…you recognize longings in your soul that draw you [to God]”, said Augustine through Al, “…and you continue to strive to be a channel of light in the world…Your soul is open to God’s blessing.”

Integrating my beliefs, developed in a conscious way over the past 40 years, since the loss of our first child in 1978, has been the task I assigned myself since starting the group in the summer of 2015. “You will find your way to an understanding of truth that does not offend your sensibilities.”, Augustine told me, “…[and] integrate the experience you are having with God with your ideas and spiritual beliefs.”

The message Augustine sent me through Al last week fit with my philosophy – that all roads lead home to spiritual fulfillment, to the Divine.

It’s all Light and Love

My current mantra, “Follow the energy”, one I’ve written about before, means I visit a variety of places and activities that elevate me spiritual, that lift up my soul. They involve meditation, prayer, nature, choir singing, our Net of Light group, the music at CLA Church, as well as the Divine Love prayer group. I feel deeply that all are moving in the same spiritual direction, towards the Light.

Having said that, I recognize that the Celestial energy during the Divine Love meetings, developed over more than 35 years by the core family, and by others before them, is a powerful, healing, high energy. Occasionally now I get glimpses, messages from my soul, that this is truly energy from the Source.

This is not to say that the other energies are not complete and beautiful in themselves, uplifting and healing – conduits to The Light. For example, the energy of the Grandmothers that we invoke during our Net of Light women’s group uplifts, heals and grounds us..

Back to the Divine Feminine, Full Circle

The Grandmothers are aspects of The Divine, of The Great Mother, the feminine aspect of God. She is the Divine Feminine.

Twenty years ago, in my work with Judith Duerk, author of Circle of Stones, Woman’s Journey to Herself, we worked with the Great Mother. Now I’ve come full circle through being led to the Great Council of Grandmothers and Net of Light organization.

This is where my spiritual process is at present.  Sharing it helps me articulate it. Some may resonate with you and spark conversation. Please feel free to comment or write to me.

Next Up…

In the next few months I plan to begin posting draft excerpts from my spiritual book from time to time.

Love & Light

Ellen

Copyright 2018 Ellen Besso

Ellen Besso is a former Life Coach & Counsellor & is an energy worker. She is the author of An Indian Sojourn: One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, and Surviving Eldercare: Where their needs end & yours begin, both available through Amazon.

 

Expansion or Withdrawal, What Do You Choose?

On By ellenbessoIn change, Positivity, spirituality, The Earth, Uncategorized2 Comments

“We cannot ever stop this process, [of spiritual evolution], although we are capable of slowing it down to an agonizing pace, until our choices match up with the inner wisdom of our soul’s essence.”   (Matt Kahn)

There’s a tremendous amount of energy coming down the pipe these days. Now we have reached the 11/11 spiritual portal, a catalyst of  both collective and individual  potentiality, one that will allow us to enter a space of higher vibration than ever before. How do you choose to deal with this powerful energy? Will you hide from this profound shift or embrace it?

Note: A spiritual portal is a doorway that allows free access to and from the spirit world, a merging of our three dimensional earthbound plane and the four dimensional etheric plane.

Each day when I awake I feel different. It’s not just me; many of us seem to be moving at a rapid pace, spurred on in our spiritual growth by our intent and by the rapidly changing physical and energetic situations around us. At this point in my life I have a certain amount of clarity. The goals I’m working towards remain constant: to move forward spiritually and to keep my physical body healthy.

My methods of doing this are varied, mainly involving emptying myself through meditation, prayer, singing, energy treatments and gentle exercise, and by assisting other folks through my presence, healing sessions and refugee resettlement volunteer work.

A year after the Great Council of Grandmothers called me to their work of healing the planet by restoring the balance of yin and yang, I attended a Net of Light gathering in Joshua Tree, California, then began a women’s group in my home. Our monthly meetings have added to the collective waves of energy directed at healing our planet and have comforted and empowered us.

Although my overall focus is clear, my motivation waivers, as doubts enter to take me off course.  This seems to be a commonplace occurrence with people of varying ages during this time of strong energies.  Old feelings and memories are surfacing, asking to be processed, life reviews are taking place.

Upon rereading one of Judith Onley’s channelling’s from US, (United Souls of Heaven and Earth) – from 9 years ago – I learned that even then our increased ability to cross time lines and dimensions allows us to see, hear and feel the past, present and future at the same time.

So it is natural that old cellular and soul material is arising and being dealt with in increasing quantities during this time of intensification. If we ignore it, it comes back to bite us in various ways – emotionally, mentally, physically and/or spiritually.

We are being offered a unique opportunity to grow spiritually – to empty ourselves and fill with light energy. We can choose to embrace the spiritual expansion being offered or  attempt to maintain the status quo.

The Universe is calling us to step up at this time, to take our place, to help make our lives and the life of our planet better, to expand spiritually. We are being shown how to live. We will hear the subtle whispers from spirit if we listen carefully.

Knowing that I’m all about the energy, the other day the spirits offered me a way to protect and strengthen myself. During my morning journalling I received guidance to visualize expanding my energy instead of keeping myself small. Not shrinking and disempowering myself when the challenges come.

Our energy system is both within and outside of us, as you are aware. Seven energetic layers surround us, to a distance of up to three feet from our bodies. Our aura can shrink when we are afraid.

I believe that now is the time for me to ‘just do it’. To listen to my guidance, however subtle, and make the changes necessary to move ahead and contribute all I can to the world.

Our changes don’t have to be big, heroic things – I was reminded of that this morning. If I continue doing the activities and projects I have put in place in a consistent way, then I am doing my part.

We owe it to ourselves and the planet to accept our power. And we are not alone. The veil is lifting, the other side is closer now than it has ever been. The angels walk among us, helping us to fill ourselves with light.

We have a choice: Embrace Expansion or Hide from it. I choose to embrace expansion – because what is the alternative?

“You’re a part of something integral…something wonderful”, the Grandmothers tell us…You aren’t a separate entity at all,”…”You’re the Net of Light, an eternal, endless being — greater by far than you’ve imagined.”

Love & Light

Ellen

Copyright 2018 Ellen Besso

Ellen Besso is a former Life Coach & Counsellor & is an energy worker. She is the author of An Indian Sojourn: One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, and Surviving Eldercare: Where their needs end & yours begin, both available through Amazon.

 

 

 

Projects, not Work

On By ellenbessoIn change, Positivity, spirituality, Spirituality in Action, Uncategorized4 Comments

I’m a focused person, but I don’t do “work” anymore, I have “projects”. Some of projects have an end goal, like a choir performance, or posting a finished blog article, but I’m moving towards “Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Our time isn’t God/dess’ time. The Universe operates on kairos, or natural time, not kronos, man made linear calendars. The concept of natural rhythms is not on the radar for most people, and those of us who are aware of it still find it hard to live this way in an ongoing way in our functional society.

It’s taken me quite a while to slow down and follow my internal wisdom, to lessen the degree to which I buy into our goal oriented, time dependent culture. Now that I’m internallizing the idea in a heartfelt way, I am beginning to thoroughly enjoy living this way. Feeling into my internal wisdom and my guidance means I do not question or self criticize in the ways of the past.

A theme of energy movement runs through my projects, in keeping with my spiritual motto, or mantra, if you will, of “follow the energy”. The Net of Light Women’s group where we meet to commune with the Grandmothers’ Council to help rebalance the planet, my new Inspirito,  singing from the heart choir, ongoing blog musings and a recommitment to providing a service offering energy balancing sessions to friends and acquaintances, all segue into a more clearly defined spiritual approach to my life.  I am blessed in the life I am living and my awareness of this grows daily.

Love & Light

Ellen

Copyright 2018 Ellen Besso

Ellen Besso is a former Life Coach & Counsellor & is an energy worker. She is the author of An Indian Sojourn: One woman’s spiritual experience of travel & volunteering, and Surviving Eldercare: Where their needs end & yours begin, both available through Amazon.

 

Net of Light Newsletter – Sharon McErlane – Live from THIS Place

On By ellenbessoIn Positivity, spirituality, Spirituality in Action, The Earth, Uncategorized2 Comments

From the Great Council of Grandmothers,

through Sharon McErlane

Live From THIS Place

I went to the Grandmothers, although I wasn’t really sure why. What did I want to ask them? But before I could form a question, they spoke. “Why do you think we come to you as the Grandmothers?” they asked. “Why do we show up as women? Older women? Why as a group?” they asked, peering intently into my eyes. “I don’t know, Grandmothers,” I said. “I mean, I have some ideas about these things but I don’t really know.”

“We are wise women,” they said, referring to themselves, ” … older, experienced in living. We’ve learned how to give away, how to love with no strings attached. We listen and because we do, we’ve accrued great understanding. You don’t gain that except through experience,” they laughed, “and we have experience! We also work together,” they smiled, “always together.

“In the world the older woman is overlooked, dismissed, and ignored,” they said, and I found that I agreed with them. “Most people are in a great hurry. Rushing, pushing, worrying, scrambling,” they said, “but not us. No,” they shook their heads. “We know better. We understand that nothing happens before its time. There’s no rushing life,” they said. “It unfolds on its own. You’ve learned that too, haven’t you?” they asked, looking me over. “Uh, yes, Grandmothers,” I agreed, “well, at least I’m continuing to learn.”

“We know, we know!” they crowed. “And we’re here to teach you!” “Oh!” I exclaimed. “Is that what this is about? Is it time for me to learn more patience?” but the Grandmothers only laughed.

“You are growing impatient,” they said, “impatient with the way things are in the world. Eager for goodness, for kindness and peace to reassert themselves on earth. You’re tired of all the darkness. Tired of the anger and meanness that continue to surface. In fact,” they said, “you can hardly bear any more of it.” “Yes, Grandmothers,” I shook my head, “you’re right.”

“Come here!” they suddenly said, and reached their arms to me. “Step into our circle. Come into alignment with us. Don’t hold yourself separate,” they said. “Don’t hold yourself ‘over there,'” they gestured, “but instead, come ‘over here’!” I did as they said. I stepped forward into their embrace and when I did, they aligned my spine with theirs. Now I was part of a long line of women … part of the formation that is the Grandmothers.

“Take a look at life on earth from THIS position,” they said, and I lifted my head and gazed out over the horizon. Everywhere I looked there was beauty. Above and below, near and far. Beauty. Only beauty. Flowing patterns of color and form. It was a visual symphony, magnificent in every way. “Where’s all the darkness? The ugliness?” I asked, squinting to see where it was hiding. But there was no darkness. There was no ugliness. Only beauty. Beauty and then … more beauty.

“Live from this place,” the Grandmothers said. “Look out at the world from here, from the place of alignment with us. We promise that things will look very different to you,” they said.

The Grandmothers had given me a new way of seeing the world. It wasn’t a new world; this world had always been there, but before they adjusted my vision, I hadn’t been able to see it. But now I could because I had the larger view. I turned to the Grandmothers then, so moved by their generosity, I couldn’t speak. All I could do was mutely nod my head in thanks to them for this great gift they’d given me. This gift of the larger vision is for you too.

from Sharon McErlane