I'm moving my blog to Wordpress!

I've gotten complaints about not being able to easily subscribe to this blog.
After trying a few things, I decided to simply transfer this blog over to wordpress, where it's just a little more simple to do.

So head over to my new address and I'll see you there!

http://harmonyparenting.wordpress.com/

A request for playing is an offer for praying

I am reminded today that young people pray through prayer. I do believe that I have mentioned that in this post. I am able to notice more and more how we are born wanting to live life in Present Time, which is the only place where Reality exists. But along the way, young people learn from being here on earth how to not live life fully in Present Time. I do believe this is a topic I'll be coming back to since there so much to it.

I went out for a while today, and as soon as I entered my Sweet Darling, who is now 4 years old, squealed and screamed with delight, "Do you wanna play a game?" As we sit down for dinner, "Do you wanna play a game?" and as we are getting ready for any transition: heading upstairs, saying hello or goodbye to anyone, bath time, bed time, the question is always there: "Do you wanna play a game?" The games are usually imagination roll playing kind of games, not board games or games with set rules (other than Sweet Darling winning). And often they are let-me-know-that-you-want-me-games, like tag, freeze tag and hide-and-seek. where the object is for Sweet Darling to be in charge of how things go, and to laugh a lot and see her parent(s) searching for her with excitement and following any rule that she throws at us.

It occurs to me again today how children use playing, laughing and crying as a way to pray and meditate. A way to wash away any less-than-perfect experiences, to leave them in Present Time afterward. They know exactly how to heal themselves after getting hurt, if all we do is to stay Present with them and now shush them, and to allow them to feel and release as they go, so they don't get stuck.

Young people are brilliant. Sweet Darling's constant request for me to play with her, and for me to turn any task into a playful experience is her offering me the chance to pray with her all day long, staying out of my nonsense thinking, and in Present Time with her and God and to live my life in a prayerful, playful way.

Okay, I get that. But I don't always want to turn every task/chore into a playful experience, but I think that I want my life to be prayerful. Hmmmm. Sometimes I get hooked into the ideas of lack of time and lack of infinite ability. Sometimes we are running late. Sometimes I've had a rough day. But if I take it moment to moment, day by day and decide Right Now to stay Present, Playful and Prayerful, then it isn't so bad. Again, those are the moments I usually decide to have a meditative, releasing cry, with a friend on the phone, or with God and me alone, or while journaling. When I have having trouble noticing how wonderful my life is I know it's time to release something, and often when that something bubbles up, it takes some crying and laughing to give it it's final cleansing push out. Then being a Prayerful Playful Parent isn't as hard--it starts to feel good and make sense. It makes sense to live a life connected to God, and therefore, it makes sense to live a life connected to people. It makes sense that our young people want to be constantly connected to us, and it makes sense that they constantly are trying to make everything in our lives play.

Distractions

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you can get distracted from actively parenting? I have. I often let those old patterns do the talking, and I find myself being somewhat robotic, or at least, not enthusiastic with my daughter. Sometimes I catch myself earlier than other times. I have used being stoic as a shield for a good chunk of my life, and after giving birth, I realized how that just wasn't the kind of parent that I wanted to be. That I wanted to show my Sweet Darling that life was meant to be lived and enjoyed, not simply a thing to get through and survive.

I have done many things to not let myself get so distracted from the present. But mostly what I have found to to work the most is to actually meditate everyday. I do my best to meditate every morning and evening. It sets me up for a more relaxed day, where I am connected to an infinite source of life and vitality--God.

And when I'm having a time where I'm getting distracted during the day, distracted from Reality, from all the good that is my life, I stop and I meditate (sometimes with Sweet Darling asking, "Why are you ignoring me?" over and over, and I just let her know lovingly that it's time for me to mediate and talk to God) and ask God for a miracle--to get me present and into reality--which exists only right now. Often, I find that I am in need of some sort of release. As Marianne Williamson talks about in her book Everyday Grace it's important to feel your feelings as they come up. Don't avoid feelings sad or scared or disappointed. Let yourself stay put and really really feel what is there, then let it go. When I am getting really distracted away from Present Time, it's usually because I am avoiding feeling something. So I stop, I meditate, and often I cry or laugh a lot until the (old, stuck) feeling that I was avoiding no longer is pulling on me. It's gone. The noticing, staying, and facing it was brave enough, but then to cry and/or laugh my way through it, actually dissolves the old hurt feelings more quickly and thoroughly. Then, I am left with God, my daughter, and my life, in Present Time, where all is well, and I am not alone, and there is no longer a pull to be distracted.