who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? the shadow knows....

whew!  so, that's over.

hours, days of preparation and it's all over in moments of devastation (that is, tearing thru the gift wrap), jubilation and hopefully no frustration.  all was good for me.  just lots of celebration with loved ones.  the best gifts being presence. 

"everything we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see."  ~martin luther king, jr.

now the days become longer and the light returns.  as we approach a new year, a new opportunity, a new beginning - we turn inward to the shadow to peek under the veil and begin to think about intentions (sankalpa) for twenty-11.   what lurks in your unconscious, in your shadow side?

what irrational instincts and so-called shortcomings are you hoping to overcome?  

by bringing attention to them, they are no longer residing in obscurement and can be revealed as the teachers that they are.  

how about we just acknowledge these aspects with non-judgment and make peace with your dark side, else attract what we most dislike in ourselves.

what we resist persists.  we use up too much energy hiding what we perceive to be our undesirable traits.  redirect that energy and take credit for the good things.  

and breathe.  the light always shines again and again.

with love & compassion~

amy

below is a post from dr. frank lipman - i thought his resolutions were worthy of passing along to you:

Friends,
In this week's newsletter, I give my 22 New Year Resolutions. I posted something similar last year, but the resolutions for this year remain similar.
one love
Frank   http://www.drfranklipman.com/22-new-year-resolutions/

22 New Year Resolutions

When I qualified as a Doctor at 25 years old, I thought I knew everything there was to know about health and medicine. By the age of 30, I realized my medical training was limited and I didn't really know much about health and wellness. So I went on a journey of discovery to expand my horizons and studied acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Functional medicine, nutrition, yoga and Buddhism. By 50, I realized my life training was limited too as my daughter (a teenager at the time) was pointing out "how stupid" I was. And now that I am 56, I realize I have amassed a lot of knowledge but have so much more to learn.

As I get older and hopefully wiser with every year, certain insights become clearer. Here are some of them gleaned from the wisdom I have gained from 31 years of marriage, having a 23 yr old daughter, 31 years of practicing medicine and being a perpetual student of life.

• More Real Food,  Less "Food-like Substances"
• More Fruit and Vegetables,  Less Sugar, Gluten and Dairy
• More Organic,  Less Chemicals
• More Clean Products,  Less Toxic Products
• More Chewing,  Less Eating
• More Water, Less Alcohol
• More Walking,  Less Driving
• More Exercising,  Less Watching TV
• More Music,  Less Noise
• More Recycling,  Less Waste
• More Outdoors,  Less Indoors
• More Sleep,  Less Worry
• More Slow, Less Hurry
• More Smiles, Less Anger
• More Love, Less Hatred
• More Fun, Less Serious
• More Letting Go, Less Holding On
• More Being, Less Doing
• More Presence, Less Absence
• More Generosity, Less Greed
• More Forgiving, Less Blaming
• More Ubuntu, Less Me!

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu says:

"Ubuntu is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being able to go the extra mile for the sake of others. We believe that a person is a person through another person, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in belonging".

Let 2011 be the year of UBUNTU