(scroll to the end for a guided breathing exercise intended to hopefully help ground and calm folks)

• songs have been added at the end that wished to be shared...

my soul's fuel is...

shifting through new (and/or old and re-discovered) phases...

metamorphosis...

...and breathing through the change...the unknown...

...so, much, unknown, for so many...

...internal, local, phases and metamorphosis

...national, global, phases and metamorphosis

some phases, that may lead into a metamorphosis,

are beautiful...

...others,

not so much.

some, a combination of various sorts.

...many contain lessons, if we're open, and curious ...and listen in(ward).

in thinking about this,

to me, this also ties into

death,

as it ties into

transformation...

...metamorphosis...

this can mean and be the transformation of so many different things...

...someone in the physical here and now transitioning out of this realm,

...someone who already has,

...or...

a habit,

a desire,

a relationship,

an intention,

a way of being,

a way of breathing,

and on,

and on,

...what might this look like for you?

(a rosy maple moth hanging out with me somewhere in northern WI a while back)

moths, to me, signify

cycles of transformation...

...metamorphosis,

and when i wrote this they'd been popping up...

...my memories of them,

when they've come to visit,

and have me think

about these things...

...what cycles,

in personal life,

as well as communal life – for all,

could use transformation...

...metamorphosis,

...into something beautiful,

for all

beings?

...what creates, sees, holds...joy and hope?

...what is essential to that?

...i believe one very central thing, before we can really fully open up to and share with others - because it's true, you can't pour from an empty cup! - is self-care, that includes breath

...intentional breath

...awareness of breath...

...if intentional breathing is new, and or still something being worked up towards, if you do just what you can do when you can, where you're comfortable with it - and build from there - whatever it is that you can do...and if you stop, that's soo okay!! ...just start again

...steps, each step, will get you there, further on the path you want to follow...

(a little fuzzy cutie came to visit one day - we had a good chat)

speaking of breathing!

my soul's fuel...more this year than for a while before, for – what has it been, not even a year now since so much began shifting, or could, for so many...oh, my, goodness...well, sometimes i find that i need to remind myself to breathe...period, just to breathe sometimes here and there, and then regardless...even if i'm already breathing at a the pace that i need to survive...reminders...to breathe...deeply, with intention...in order to thrive...

for so many, for myself and most of the folks that I know and love,

and for so, so many folks i don't know, but still love and have compassion for,

are living through times that can often bring on anxiety, fear, struggle,

sometimes intensely, and/or in the background, but, lingering...noticeable...

...if you find yourself feeling things like this and short of breath, one quick breathing technique that often helps folks ground, center and calm – is to essentially exhale longer than you inhale. that's it, plain and simple. ...listen to, and feel into your body, if you're able, and just do what's comfortable for you. if that's an inhale for a count of two and an exhale for a count of three or four – great! if it's an inhale for a count of 10 and exhale for a count of 15 – great! ...it's not a competition, and there's no right or wrong timing – so, do what's comfortable and sustainable for you. ...note as well that what's comfortable and sustainable may or may not change over time, even different times of each day – and that's okay.

...if you'd like to check it out, here is a guided video with music walking through longer exhale than your inhale breathing exercise:

soundtrack – some of the following songs popped up, at various times in one day, both while at home on a device and in the car, while thinking about this sharing, and some have been added later:

Aurora - The Seed

Green Tea Peng - The End (Peace)

Rising Appalachia - Catalyst

Chromatics - Running Up That Hill _Kate Bush Cover

Sinéad O'Connor - Black Boys on Mopeds

...for the folks having trouble sleeping here and there....

Burial – Rough Sleeper

Faithless - Insomnia