Look Where You Would Walk

One of my favorite photos on the way to the Grand Canyon.

"We must look where we would walk, and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom we have our being." ~ Mary Baker Eddy

Letting go and letting God...we're all familiar with that phrase, but it's often more challenging than we'd like. We usually want to see our life in outline form...with clear goals and directions before us.

I love the above quote from Mary Baker Eddy. It gives new meaning to the idea of letting go. Instead of mindlessly wandering in the wilderness of confusion and hope, waiting for some divine guidance...we are divinely empowered to take the steps we need to with the sweet promise of finding what we desire on our journey, even our perfect bliss.

How often do we act as having all power within our grasp, within our divine, creative being? And do we really look in the direction where we want our lives to go? or do we timidly look back at our past achievements or past relationships to discover ways to keep doing what we've always done?

I invite you to look where you would like to walk...today!

Exiting Right

Saturday, October 23, 3:01 p.m.
Last stop, Desert View lookout, Grand Canyon, AZ.


Some of my favorite sayings are from Nelson Mandela. He is quoted as saying:
"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."


The Grand Canyon and Sedona definitely taught me not to settle...to think and dream big, and go for your dreams.


Our pains and fears really can't harm us, especially when faced head on. But when we swallow them--hook, line and sinker--we tend to go down with our pains and fears...into darkness.


I'm learning to fall in love with myself and to be satisfied with all that I am and with what I have to offer myself.


I'm learning that the beauty I see outside of me, is really already a part of who I am.


And that I cannot be separate from the love and beauty I see, think and feel.



So I can never really loose love or beauty. It's inside me, and I create it all around me.


As I exit out of the land of grand self-discovery, I embark on a new path...coming home to myself.

Our Deepest Fear

Saturday, October 23, 2:27 p.m., Navajo Point, Grand Canyon.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking...

...so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to manifest the glory of God within us.

It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,

our presence automatically liberates others."

--from Nelson Mandela, President of the Republic of South Africa from his 1994 speech.

Noetics Science Review, Winter 1995

The Grand and Noble View of You

Saturday, October 23, 2:15 p.m., Lipan Point, 7360 feet off the Grand Canyon.

"It is man's foremost duty to awaken the understanding of the inner Self and to know his own real inner greatness. Once he knows his true worth, he can know the worth of others."
--Swami Muktananda


It's very difficult to take in the grandeur of the canyon if you zoom in too closely and only capture the details. A friend pointed out, that if you put in the foreground as a point of reference, the pictures begin to tell a much more amazing story.


In this same way, I started realizing that we often don't love ourselves because we look too closely in the mirror...taking critical note of every large pore, stubborn chin hair, obtrusive zit or new wrinkle. If we would just stand back, and look at the big picture--we'd see how noble and grand we really are!


This isn't to say that we don't all have things to "work on" about ourselves...but have you ever noticed that a friend never seems less than lovely to you? You'd never dream of looking at your friends as critically or closely as you do yourself!

When I paint a portrait, I often design it very up close and personal. But, I'm looking within, at the client's inner light, beauty and color. So, it happens to come out as your nose, lips, eyes and hair--but that's not really your real essence. And that's what I go for--your inner being, your truth. So why not for myself, too?

As I'm painting, I have to stand back frequently, or I'll miss conveying the whole picture. Plus that's when I catch mistakes...not when I'm up close. Interesting. In life we tend to do just the opposite!


So, I'm standing way, way back...and looking for the great good, the grand and noble view of myself. It may take a little practice and a lot of patience...but what a great lesson to have learned from the Grand Canyon!

Maybe, that's what the Master Christian meant by his two great Commandments: To love God, and to love your neighbor as yourself. If you don't stand back and see the big picture, you'll never really get God in your viewfinder, much less your neighbor, or even yourself!

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An excerpt from one of my favorite books, Attitudes of Gratitude by M. J. Ryan:

"You are amazing original, the one and only you. You think unique thoughts, express yourself in particular ways, and offer yourself to family and friends in ways that only you can. But I bet you aren't even aware of your beauty, your sensitivity, your quirky outlook on the world. In some ways, it's not possible not to take ourselves for granted--the way we are is just natural to us, and therefore it's hard for us to see just how marvelously wonderful we are."

"That's what's so great about friends: they notice what's wonderful and point it out, and suddenly it becomes visible to us too."

"When we're practicing gratitude, it's easy to notice all the things outside of ourselves we are grateful for--love and friendship and food and laughter--and forget to shine the light of appreciation on ourselves. But we all have splendid qualities, and if we learn to appreciate ourselves, our sense of gratefulness for our own beings will be magnified and our tendency to notice all our flaws and failings will diminish."

"Giving thanks for all our wonderful qualities is one of the ways we learn truly to love ourselves. From that self-love, we can then feel worthy of love from others and have strong, healthy relationships. Because we feel worthy, we can love without being overly demanding, clinging, or rejecting."

"Today, try writing a note of thanks to yourself."

Sleeping Beauties and the Trail of Happiness

Saturday, October 23, 1:35 p.m.


On down the road there is another lookout which is clearly paved with parking spaces.


So I pull over to take in the view from Moran Point, at 7278 feet off the Grand Canyon walls.


As I'm remembering to "stay on the trail"...



...I grow weary of a short 3 foot man-made wall that seems to be in my way.



The explorer-adventurer gets the best of me and, jumping off the wall in my spring coil shoes, I tumble over bruising the heck out of my knees and nearly damaging my camera. I guess if you have to fall at the Grand Canyon, you can be grateful it was only 3 feet...and not a couple of thousand!

OK, back to the loftier thoughts...which we all sometimes stumble and fall from...despite the signs!


Percy Bysshe Shelley is quoted as saying: " Appreciation makes immortal all that is best and most beautiful....It exalts the beauty of that which is beautiful....It strips the veil of familiarity from the word, and lays bare and naked sleeping beauty, which is in the spirit of its forms."


So I'm thinking about the trail of happiness and appreciation for all things beautiful and grand that I'm leaving behind...in my mental wake, so to speak.



And I wonder about another trail of happiness I can create.


I wonder if I've told the people that matter to me, just how much I'm grateful for them being in my life.


Or, even the people who don't seem to matter that much to me...the bank clerk, the checkout gal, the flight attendant, the auto mechanic, etc.


...have I told them just how beautiful they really are?


How magnificent? How lovely?


And how very much they are appreciated in my life? That I wouldn't be able to be standing right here, without them?


What sleeping beauties do we all have in our lives...


...waiting to come to life with a kiss of gratitude?


What a trail of happiness we'd leave behind by noticing and acknowledging them all!

Highway Hauntings and Spirits on the Canyon's Edge

Saturday, October 23. To continue my tales of spooky encounters, we head east on the haunted highway of I-64, where I got a glimpse of an unusual rock formation in the Grand Canyon from the opposite side of the road.


It was an unmarked area with no paved access or pathways--just a part of the wilderness beside the two lane road.



I was captivated by the quick glimpse of light and majesty so I pulled the Zanne-Van off the road as much as I could, and with blinkers on and camera in hand, I crossed the highway to see a spectacular drama unfold over the next 30 minutes or so.


Pushing through trees and bushes, I scaled the rocky embankment to a view that abruptly descended into the depth of the canyon...


Here's my shadow indicating where I'm standing taking photos on the ledge...it's a straight shot down from here!


You can see the drop off here into the seemingly bottomless canyon floor.



My ledge-view exposed a vast ascending canyon "mountain" which looked like an an ancient Indian ruin of some sort...


...and was quite compelling as the light danced over its curiously sharp crown and ribbed staircases...


...making it appear sometimes like a priestly temple ruin...


...and other times like an enchanted dinosaur fossil.


I cautiously crawled around the cliff's edge...


...and up onto some boulders for a less branch-obstructed view.


The craggy boulders were covered with bright rust and turquoise colored lichen.



I hung out next to this ghostly whisper of a bush for company. I was quite enjoying my view and feeling very close to God and mediating on the greatness of life...when I was suddenly interrupted by a very unusual growling noise. "Gllllllrrrrroowl...glllllrrrrrroowl....glllllrrrroowl," it announced, whirling around my head!

With dive-bombing sensations and growls on my left, I startled but saw nothing. Then I felt a sudden swoosh and heard the "gllllllrrrroowl" on my right. I abruptly turned right only to feel a swooping presence overhead, accompanied by the chilling growling.


Instinctively ducking, I looked up to see huge birds dodging in and out of the air currents and then circling back over me as if something were dying. At first I thought they were buzzards, but then I saw some ravens diving close to me. Hmm. OK, I thought, we have Edgar Alan Poe sized ravens here and they are tempting me with an Alfred Hitchcock moment. I'll just ignore them and they'll go away, I thought.


(These canyon ravens were photographed later in my trip, and were extremely vocal, protective, and somewhat aggressive and unafraid of humans. The huge birds made very unusual noises...but not quite that same growl I'd heard.)



So I continued taking photos and enjoying the light playing off the majestic scenery. But is wasn't long before the I noticed that the bushes around me were moving...and not in just one spot...all over! I was surrounded by bushes that were jittering with excitement.


Hmm. I did see sign not far back warning me of cougars over the next 10 miles. Maybe I'd better get in the car, I wondered casually. But surely a mountain lion would have pounced by now? Oh well, I am on a schedule and need to head back to Texas soon, I thought.


More curious than disturbed, I began descending the boulders when I became captivated by the multi-colored lichen and moss in the rocks. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed the eerie faces and skull-like Indian faces in them. What do you see?






Anyway, I made it unscathed to my car and did a U-turn, only to pull over to the same spot! I hadn't realized that I was being drawn to this location again, until I got out to take more photos. That was weird. But I didn't think much more about it until I mentioned this incident along with the ghostly visitation at the Best Western Squire Inn to the hotel clerk. She reported that highway 64 is quite actively haunted and that the area is also known for its skinwalkers. She said that my growling incident sounded like I may have encountered such shape-shifters. Spooky!


Skinwalkers are attributed often to spirits of the Native American Navajo witch doctor who changes from human form into animal, usually coyote, wolf, owl, fox or crow, but other animals as well. In fact, werewolve fables seem to have their origin in the Native American skinwalkers. These spirits are not friendly and after further research, seem to be given credit with pushing tourists over the edge of the Grand Canyon...perhaps taking credit for the numerous "suicides" that seem to take place in this area annually.

Skinwalkers can supposedly make various animal and human noises, even of your loved ones or a baby crying to lure you out. They have been thought to have attacked homes and even cars.


I also happened to zoom in on a shot of my car parked across from this area. Do you see the strange animal looking presence in front of my car? Not sure if you can make out the ears, but it looks like something more animalian than a tree stump, don't you think?


Well, I'm not really sure what I encountered, but I do know that it was very different than anything else I'd ever felt before. I was just so grateful that my thoughts had been so full of love and light and heavenly inspiration...I'm sure it was my protection! And perhaps they sensed that I respected their hallowed grounds and meant no harm. At any rate, I'm glad I stayed on the path the rest of the time...maybe that was part of God's sign to me: Healing in Progress: Please stay on the trail!