Responding to an email from J, New Years Day 1/1/13

And I in yours dear one.  It is indeed not so much the words but individual acts of love, kindness and compassion within our sphere of influence and giftedness that begins to transform not only ourselves but others in the process.  What I am learning in this journey is to move out of that head space and more into the heart projecting that out into the world as you are doing through acts of kindness and compassion.  

At the same time I have been wonderfully blessed to spend my birthday and New Years eve with a Mayan family.   I spent most of the day sitting quiet contentedly in the shade.  The family was away leaving me with the doves, puppies and three young chickens.  Overhead, white doves cooed from the rafters of an open thatched roof shed where they roost and nest.  One such is in a plastic tub of the right size, the cooing wonderfully resonating from within.  Another a crate suspended at an oblique angle from long pole side supports.  

I´m beginning to pick up more on the energy/vibration of others in this process of transformation.  I was at the Hotel Diego de la Selva in Tulum for a gathering my friend Gabriel was invited to.  We were listening to a presentation about the importance of a resident bee, melipona I think, to the Maya.  It does not hybridize with the African bee and its honey is of superior quality. But I also noticed a young Caucasian woman listening, dressed in white.  Something was different about her and I saw in minds eye a candle over her head, symbolically a bright light.  It was not long thereafter I was having a conversation with her  (Swedish) to discover that she too was on a similar spiritual path as you and I and many others.  So others of similar energy are drawn to us depending on where we place our focus.  Like energy attracts.

And your light also shines through brightly in your love for L with all the heart opening and pain that comes from that separation.

If this year was to be the last of your life how would you chose to spend your time and energy to help transform the consciousness of this planet?  That is now the question resonating within me.  The number 13 was sacred to the Maya it´s meaning love, in the Mayan language en lak ech (sp),  I am (Love) another you.  The year begins. 

And the burried turkey was just excellent, maybe the best I´ve eaten, so saboroso.  The waning moon rose late but the universe was wonderfully displayed, Venus directly overhead for a time.  At midnight children burned their muneca´s (dolls) made from old clothes stuffed with leave.  This, ushering out the old and in the new year.  A  tradition at least in this Yucatan community.   

We can create a self-fulling prophecy and a New Earth.  There are now enough of us resonating with a higher vibration/energy across the planet (love, compassion, courage, honesty, integrity and kindness) that it is possible if we focus on it.  What we focus on grows. 

Got to get to a blog posting.  I so appreciate your loving energy and thoughts. 

Much love to you and T my dear friends,

Don

On Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 3:27 PM, Jean Aspen  wrote:

Beloved Don,

Thank you for your beautiful letter. Lucas would have loved your life and al;ways saw beauty in the poor people of Central America. 

Indeed, The biggest gift any of us have is to shine. I keep seeing that in all the great writings, that God flows through each as much as we are able and willing to open. The more we see God in EVERY person and event, the more flow happens through us. It takes each of us to transform the planet. I used to think I could make some BIG difference, but find now it is just one act of kindness at a time. Like grass growing, it is the soft, irresistible power of loving one another that transforms our world. Once you discover your part in it, it becomes more fun than anything else you can do with your own short ride on this beautiful earth. The more I see beauty in those about me, the more they find it in themselves. 

You are an inspiration to me. I am delighted to hear that you are seeing grass-roots awakening. I used to think I could use a megaphone to awaken people, and indeed, my books and our documentary do continue to bring news that reaching this larger audience is possible, but mostly it is the daily kindness  that matters. When I see the local drunk with the DTs at the hospital and recognize his or her beauty, seeing past appearances, I open a profound opportunity for that person to move beyond the agreement that he or she is "a waste of skin," as I have heard it phrased. That doing something is the only bit of value. 

I am so pleased to be able to share this vision with like-minded souls. Thank you for being in my life!

Love, Jeanie

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" -- Mary Oliver

On Dec 31, 2012, at 11:00 AM, Don Ross wrote:

Beloved Jeanie and Tom,

As the world as we know it winds to a close thanks again for sharing your life´s work with yo mismo.   From the place I´m at now I appreciate the courage it takes to step out of the mainstream and follow your heart, to use your creative talents and gifts for a greater good.  The more we expand in consciousness the more light that shines into our world.  And in the end it is not so much the words we say but the example we set that will bring about the necessary changes to create a heaven on earth instead of the one we have created.

While my sample size is very small I am connecting with people, women especially as I may have mentioned before that are awakening or remembering who and what they are in relation to All That Is.  In that there is hope.  Love, joy and peace are energies of the highest vibration which no other can overcome.  The more of it we put into the world the more of it that manifests until wallah, we have created something different, a nonviolent world at peace. 

If there is a Second Coming it is perhaps not the coming of one individual but rather a rising of this inner light within each of us that comes into the world committed to a higher good each according to his or her talents, guided by Love.  And by example inspiring others to also change  In this creative tapestry all threads are important.  Yours must be green, coming from the heart.  

So good on you for being part of the rising tide.  Some thoughts rattling around wanting an exit path even as biting things have their way with this succulent flesh.  

I´m enjoying my multicultural experience in Kaua, Yucatan, a small rural Mayan community west of Cancun.  This gracious Mayan family took me in and has fed me out of their limited resources.  Chickens and dogs run in and out the open doors, eating and defecating from the earthen floor but encouraged to stay out with a fly swatter.  Sometimes their treatment is rough.  One older dog has learned to be wary of humans.  You can see it on its sad face. 

Sixto´s younger wife just had her third child, this one by caesarian section, so far no infection but wears a band around her large mid section.  She´s not supposed to lift heavy things but the work of caring for and feeding her children makes this nearly impossible.  Still she has said to me she loves what she does, the hard work and caring for her children which both clearly adore.   She nurses her child openly without a second thought in front of a stranger which is the natural thing to do.  They both lie in their hammock, usually not together with baby on chest or at their side while rocking back and forth by pulling on a rope tied to a rafter.  They had a fan blowing air towards the hammock until the cheap plastic hub shattered.  Smoke from an open fire set between three large rocks has blackened the underside of the thatched roof and rafters.  A metal grate rests on the three rocks to support pots or a flat metal pan to cook tortillas.  This home is built more the way a traditional one which was the intent.  The vertical log walls are held in place by vines as is every other support.  There are spaces between each pole to allow fresh air to enter.

On this journey I chose to not bring a camera for the distraction it creates preferring instead to continue with a practice of just being present in the moment.  And sometimes this comes easier than others. 

But not all is well here either as it is in many places.  Plastic basura litters the landscape here and at roadside.  Sixto took a bag of plastic crap into the jungle to dispose of it.  Some of it gets burned.  I have seen this many times in my travels.  We have allowed this to happen without requiring that if something stands a chance of being disposed of at roadside or whereever it should be biodegradable.  Ultimately,  until each of us takes responsibility for all of the messes we´ve created, not much will change except the hand wringing and rush to judgment. 

He also said to me that the people feel they are slaves to a government corrupted by love of power and money.  Sounds familiar doesn´t it.  A civil revolution is possible here he said.  Gabriel his nephew expressed a similar sentiment, saying that the patience of the people is not endless. 

Still, I remain hopeful of a turning tide and choose to focus my energies on a revolution of consciousness guided by the way of peace which is Love.

Tomorrow it´s back on the bicycle and head for the north coast then maybe back south again through Tulum, flying back to Miami on the 16th. 

And in that I remain perfect in my imperfection sending you much love and abrazos as we close out the old and ring in the new. 

Don


PS It´s roast turkey, a special treat for this evenings fare.